Copyright 1992, Scott Kellogg. All rights reserved.
THE 4.5TH COLUMNISTS
by
Scott Kellogg
- XIII -
Taek was annoyed. The interrogation failed. He made his way
back to the Space Winds with a bad taste in his mouth. True, Jiel
was tasty enough, but what am I doing wandering around with all
these humans anyway? Grah, sure, a little tumble now and then
never hurt anyone, but it seems that's all I've had lately.
Don't want to be alone... But there's no one to *really* talk
to... Gresha? Kaezorr? Pleasant enough, but no real... *Soul*
there. Tuerz? Erf. The little psychopath is kind of light on
understanding... Besides, he's... well... *almost* male anyway...
And in any case, they all look *up* to me. Not even close to an
equal...
The only one with the kind of *soul* I want is maybe
Jietlshaiepr. And she's *human*... Furrrr... And even then,
she's got Niedrsha anyway... Furrr....
Taek banished such thoughts from his mind. Then, unbidden,
Gdeerzorr's scent crossed his mind.
- XIV -
"Whezel Kiriat runs the worst hotel in the sector."
Jietlshaiepr inspected the rented room with a wrinkled nose. The
glassless windows were boarded up with sheet rock and wood. An
wasteful expensive proposition on a world without trees, but it
appeared to have come from the remains of smashed wooden furniture.
The mattress reeked of must and the blankets were misted with dust.
A small sink stood in the corner which gurgled for seven
seconds before producing a thin trickle of orange water.
A knock at the door produced Flamboyant's crew, with the
exception of Kfoks, all with similar stories of their
accommodations.
"I have an urgent report." stated Vole.
"Yes?" Shtam leaned down next to the robotic dog.
"I have been monitoring all the people we have encountered.
With the exception of Jeff Ralampago, Whezel Kiriat, and Jiel
Kerreur all humans have had a body temperature of three hundred and
seven point four Kelvin."
"So what?" asked Niedrsha.
Jietlshaiepr's eyebrows knitted. "Normal body temperature is
three hundred nine... What about Gdeerzorr?"
"Three hundred ten point eight."
"That's normal Vargr body temp." nodded Tuerz.
"Still," Shtam interrupted, "Racial variation and genetic
drift over..."
"No... No... Normal temperature ranges plus or minus one
degree. One point six is much too low... Admittedly, there are
minor human races with lower temperatures, but that results from
major genetic engineering."
Kfoks entered quietly, ears alert, "Well, Jiel Kerreur is
human enough..."
Niedrsha leered and raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah?"
Kfoks didn't react, "Quite human."
"Learn anything?"
Kfoks shook his head, "Nothing. She didn't feel like talking
much. However, while I didn't learn anything, I did teach her a
few things." Taek turned away and thought to himself, "And perhaps
I learned something about myself..."
Vole spoke again, "I must also point out that with the
exception of Whezel Kiriat, Jeff Ralampago and Gdeerzorr, all
humans thus far encountered have produced no psionic radiations."
"Powerful psionics," thought Shtam aloud, "Were there any
variations in strength?"
Vole considered the question, "Very little. Jiel Kerreur gave
an extremely small psi shadow when I was within sixty centimeters
of her. The others gave no detectable radiation whatsoever."
"It is also of note that all humans except the aforementioned
ranged between one point nine nine, and two point two meters tall.
This is with a measurement error of plus or minus one centimeter.
Eighty percent were measured as being exactly two point one
centimeters tall."
"What on Zhdant is going on here?"
- XV -
Jietlshaiepr woke with a start at the sound of her name.
"Huhhummmmmmm...? What?" she whispered in the dark.
Vole's voice came out of the dark, "Miakr's calling from the
ship."
"Trouble?"
"Maybe."
Niedrsha rolled over. "Huuuuuunnnnnnnnngggug? Wha'sgoin'on?"
Vole's voice was replaced by Miakr's played over Vole's vocal
circuits. "Jietlshaiepr? The exterior proximity alarm woke me.
There are several guys working on the scout ship All Nighter."
"So?"
"I played back the sensor log, one minute there's no movement
out there, then the densitometer says someone just appeared inside
the ship. The main hatch opened up, and the woman you met: Jiel
Kerreur opened the hatch. She's let several others aboard. The
ship's been refueled and the engines are powering up."
Jiet sat up, yawned and gasped for breath to feed oxygen to
her sleep soaked brain, "Any sign of Ralampago or Gdeerzorr?"
"That's just it, they're nowhere in sight."
"Ok. Just hold on, I'm going to try clairvoyance."
Jietlshaiepr concentrated, remembering exactly where she was
in relation to the scout ship. She began opening her mind to the
auras of things aboard the scout. A vague picture of the bridge
built itself up... Foggy images of the consoles came in: no
details... A figure in combat armor entered commands at the
terminal.
Jietlshaiepr shook her head. She wasn't seeing a true image,
it was just an educated guess. Again she cleared her mind and
reached into space...
Fog...
Fog...
"I'm too tired to get an image." she decided. "What's the
densitometer say? Any movement?"
Miakr's voice came out of the darkness, "I read four moving
bodies aboard... with the deck plans on screen... One on the
bridge, two in the engine room and one in fire control... Wait...
Outside pressure dropping... They're cycling the docking bay...
Hold on, now I'm reading three on board. Somebody just teleported
out."
"Has the ship powered up yet?"
"Full power. Looks like an engine test run up... The dock is
opening... They're leaving."
Niedrsha held one finger up in the air above the bed. "Track
'em. Don let 'em get away!" He grabbed onto Jiet's negligee and
pulled her gently, albeit unceremoniously, back down on the bed.
Niedrsha's voice dropped an octave and growled, "Now you," He
pointed at Vole, "Shaddup."
"You," he pointed at Jiet accusingly, but his voice softened
with a tired smile, "Hol' still."
He held her gently and laid his head down on her chest,
quickly finding the comfortable spot.
"Niedrsha?" the sound of Jiet's whisper came strangely, his
right ear hearing it through the air, but his left was planted on
her ribcage.
"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?"
"I... just used my psi..."
"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm."
Her hand went to his chest. "I need to be full strength..."
Niedrsha caught up her hand as it started to roam. "Later.
'Kay?"
"Okay." she nodded.
Niedrsha smiled tiredly an nodded, his nose gently brushing
her nipple.
- XVI -
Miakr shook his head. "They flew around the planet and we
lost the densitometer image. Then they powered down to minimum and
flew into the sun." He indicated the sensor playback. They should
emerge right about here but they're just gone."
Niedrsha banged his fist on the bulkhead. "You're sure the
two crew weren't aboard?"
"They weren't in the group that boarded the ship."
"And you lost 'em."
Miakr looked defensive, "Well, we know the ship's still in
system: no sign of any jump activity."
Niedrsha shook his head "What the fuck is going on?"
Shtam studied the sensor tape "Well, it might have been a
captured ship being dropped off to a contact..."
"Meaning Jiel Kerreur is one of them." thought Jietlshaiepr
aloud. "But where is every body? There ought to be a thousand
inhabitants here..."
"It all seems pretty mysterious." agreed Shtam.
Jietlshaiepr frowned and shook her head "Right. This is
getting us nowhere. We've got to find the base. Back to our
prospecting cover."
- XVII -
Although we hunted high and low,
and hunted everywhere,
of the three men's fate
we found no trace
in any time,
in any place:
but a door ajar,
and an untouched meal,
and an over toppled chair. -Wilfred Gibson
Niedrsha brought the Air/Raft down to rest on the mining hut's
tiny landing pad. The hut was fairly exposed: in the center of a
large crater plain three kilometers in diameter. The dust around
the hut was flattened with foot prints. With no air to stir the
dust, the plain would remain trampled for eternity.
The giant, black petaled flower of a solar array overshadowed
the small bone white hut. The black windows stared eyelessly over
the desolate crater. The outer hatch of the airlock stood mutely
open like the dry mouth of a corpse.
An ATV lay jacked up on its side, where one of the road wheels
was damaged. A tool kit lay nearby. Exploration drilling
equipment was set up in various places.
"Anybody home?" called Jietlshaiepr on her vac suit radio.
Static answered.
She scanned the desolation with binoculars while Niedrsha
climbed out SMG in hand.
"Too quiet." he muttered. "Like a damn crypt."
Cautiously, they approached the hut's lock. "Feel like
knocking?" asked Niedrsha.
"Not particularly. Let's go in."
With clammy hands Niedrsha closed the outer hatch. The
airlock controls lit up automatically. A sudden tapping
transmitted through the floor as Jietlshaiepr hit the cycle button.
With some hesitation, the chamber filled with air. Sensors
registered silently.
"Breathable." mumbled Jietlshaiepr.
Niedrsha cocked his SMG and activated its laser designator as
he undogged the inner hatch.
The door opened on searing black heat. A gloomy red tinge
glowed in the far corner as the tiny green spot of the helium neon
designator laser swept rapidly across the room.
Jietlshaiepr hit the light. Clothes lay scattered across the
floor, a tray of food sat on the table. Niedrsha stepped inside.
"This food's nearly fossilized." a coffee mug sat nearby with
black stain in the bottom of it.
"Somebody left the oven on." nodded Jietlshaiepr.
They left hurriedly.
A mining laser stood by the landing pad with tiny lights
flashing on it. Heavy cable connected it to the solar array.
"Looks like it's still running." thought Niedrsha. He glanced
at the ground beneath it: a neatly drilled hole... several
kilometers deep.
- XVIII -
Gresha stood by over the gig's sensors. The additional ones
fitted from the VIXEN provided a peculiar mix, and they were rather
dubious to start with, but they did add the comfort of a neutrino
detector and densitometer.
Shtam cruised the gig a bare five meters over the rocky
surface. Jutting above the plain, the shattered dome of the
abandoned fighter base hove into view.
The base was in ruins. Prefabricated huts dotted the dusty
surface like cracked eggs. A large antenna tower had toppled
smashing through several huts and strewing pieces over the surface.
Laser rents in the dome wrote the story of the last battle here
twenty years ago while blast marks from shaped charges provided the
punctuation.
"Got a radiation reading..." cautioned Gresha. "High: LD
ninety four outside. Even with the hull armor, we better git and
fast!"
"I am not anxious to get too close." announced Shtam, "Vole,
are you reading any neural activity?"
"Nothing in my range." he answered.
"I got some neutrino activity." declared Gresha. "Radiation's
getting worse. We're too close!"
"From the base?" asked Shtam, "With the high level of
radiation... Well, anything emitting that much radiation will
effect the sensors well.... Estimated power output?"
"Fourteen point two megawatts? Can't tell, radiation's
playing havoc. Levels aren't stable."
"Densitometer?"
Gresha's ears folded flat "Get us out of here! It's LD twenty
Inside ship!"
Shtam growled "Densitometer, *DAMMIT!* We have to find that
fucking base!"
Surprised by Shtam's sudden uncharacteristic temper, Gresha
refocused on the display, "Urr... No movement... Can't really see
much with this old thing... Not a lot of penetration... I just
can't see anything."
"Vole," called Shtam calmly, "Anything?"
"Negative."
"Right. Now, we go get some radiation serum."
- XIX -
Jietlshaiepr checked the osmotic pressure injector and sent
the dose into Shtam's arm. "Well son, looks like you'll be
alright... Now just relax, the adrenalin in this mix will probably
blow your mind, but the sedative in it ought to knock you out for
a while. You may want to keep an eye on your hair. If it does go,
it'll grow back, but you may be a bit greyer."
"How is Gresha doing?"
"Not great. High blood pressure... Nausea... She's asleep
now. She's gonna be out of it for a while, but she'll make it Ok.
I just hope she doesn't lose too much fur. I never heard of a
Vargr toupee..."
- XX -
Kfoks studied the gig's sensor display as Tuerz flew in a low
orbit five kilometers from the airless surface of Zylath.
"Where the fuck are they?" growled Tuerz.
Kfoks sighed, "I still can't find any trace of neutrino
emission other than what we've found already... They must be using
photocells..."
"What about the active EMS?"
"We can pick out refined metal, it just has to be in pretty
close range. This whole planet is made out of metal ores..."
Kfoks squinted at the display. "Contact."
- XXI -
The mining hut stood half buried under the sand. It's dark
windows looking out at the black sky while the sun beat down
mercilessly washing out all of the stars and peeling the paint off
the sides of the hut. Sand was heaped up high over the structure
to provide extra insulation, and shade from the suns radiation. An
ATV stood close by, parked in the open, its tracks leading off
across the desert plain.
The whole area was beaten down with foot prints leading into
and out of the shelter, around the ATV and out into the plains.
Kfoks and Tuerz crept up to the airlock with guns drawn.
Tuerz's custom laser pistol plugged into a battery back pack, while
Kfoks held his gauss rifle, glad of the weight of the fusion gun on
his back.
Tuerz flattened himself against the bulkhead while Kfoks
reached for the hatch dogs. Slowly, he rotated the hatch wheel.
Through the gauntlets of his battle dress he felt the vibration of
the wheel rotating. Suddenly, the wheel jammed.
Kfoks keyed the bone induction scrambled transmitter in his
skull "The hatch is locked."
Tuerz eyes narrowed. "These huts don't have locking hatches
on the outside. Designed to allow emergency access to the airlock.
Jammed from inside."
"Ok..." Kfoks slung the rifle and braced himself. The wheel
came to the jam and the battle dress strength enhancement servos
came on. The servos keyed up their normal power as Kfoks strained
as the dogs began to creak. Quickly, Kfoks brought up the servos
to full power override and the wheel spun with a snap.
The hatch swung outward and lights came on inside the airlock.
A bent and broken wrench was on the floor matching the bent and
broken wheel of the hatch's inner dogs.
The indicators read that the base was pressurized and...
Kfoks leaped out of the lock as the inner hatch wheel spun.
The hatch crashed open crushing the inside of the airlock
propelled by nearly thirty tons of air. A white typhoon howled out
of the lock, water vapor condensing and freezing in the vacuum.
The radio growled, "Walk through that lock and you're dead."
From cover, Kfoks focused the fusion gun on the airlock.
Nothing moved inside the black cavern of the mining hut.
Tuerz hackles rose inside his armor. "Blast a hole in the
side of the hut, fire a few shots in, and then rush the airlock!"
"Wait, hold on..." Kfoks peered at the open hatch way. A
black hole against a glaring back ground. One step into the door
and you'd be silhouetted.
A radio aerial stood on top of the hut. Kfoks ripped it off
with a blast of the fusion gun.
"All right in there." growled Kfoks over the radio. "Your
radio is down. There'll be no calling to your friends. Come on
out with your hands up."
"Give up?" strained the growing voice, "I've killed too many
of you grsharrks to be afraid of you. Come on. Put your teeth
where your tongue is."
"Gveg?" wondered Kfoks. "Gdeerzorr is that you?"
"What do you think? Now keep back!"
Kfoks switched languages, much better to talk in one's native
tongue. "This is Kfoks of the Miscat Zhje Gorrne. We moored along
side your ship. We were both at that stupid bar."
"What...?" confusion and fatigue sounded in her voice. "Drop
yer weapons and come inside..."
Kfoks thought for a moment. Battle dress couldn't conceal his
weapons, but by itself was weapon enough. He disconnected the
fusion gun and laid the gauss rifle aside.
Once inside the battle dress lit the interior with active
infrared. Gdeerzorr lay on the floor with a gauss rifle leveled on
him. Her vac suit was seared with burn marks and covered with suit
patches. Detonator wires lay at her side leading to the airlock.
"So you're one of them." she growled weakly.
"One of who?"
"Them!"
"Who the hell are they?" growled Kfoks.
"How the fuck should I know?" she shot back.
"Look we came here to do a mining survey..."
"With battle... dress and... fusion guns?" Gdeerzorr's voice
was getting weaker.
Kfoks tensed invisibly, "Who attacked you?"
"Don't know... They just... We tried to find... Jeff's
brother. They followed... fired, and we... got out..." Gdeerzorr
was fading fast.
In a blur, Kfoks was at her side examining the vac suit's
readouts. Pressure low, high carbon dioxide, obvious heavy wounds
under the suit patches, made untouchable inside the sealed vac
suit. "Tuerz get in here, fast."
"...Find brother..." She slumped.
Tuerz appeared. His gun surveyed the room.
Kfoks positioned himself to lift her. "Support her legs.
Gotta keep her immobile. We'll move her to the gig."
"We should secure her limbs to prevent compli..."
"No time. Suit's down to zero."
- XXII -
Once in the gig Tuerz cut Gdeerzorr out of the suit. He made
a quick examination and put her in the emergency low berth. Her
heart stopped fourteen seconds before she went into the deep
freeze.
"That's gonna be one hell of a hospital bill." sighed Tuerz.
"Third degree burns... looks like some small shrapnel in the
chest... I'm not sure but I think she's got an unexploded HE round
in the lower abdomen."
"Handle with care." thought Kfoks aloud.
"She can't sit with that in there. It's gonna have to come
out."
"Can you do it?"
"No. She's dead. To get it out we'll have to raise the
temperature and that'll blow any chance of reviving her without
proper facilities."
"Then she'll just have to sit in cold storage till we find a
good enough hospital."
"With a bomb inside her?" Tuerz ears flattened, "That's crazy!
I say we dump her."
Kfoks fixed Tuerz eye, "*No*."
- XXIII -
"This is stupid!" sighed Jietlshaiepr. "Why did they attack
those two? They weren't a threat!"
Kfoks thumbed through Gdeerzorr's wallet. "Nothing makes
sense around here. Tuerz went back in the air/raft to see if he
could find anything more."
"Damn right, but where do we go from here?" asked Niedrsha.
"Any suggestions?" asked Jietlshaiepr.
"Mmmm." Kfoks produced a photograph out of the wallet.
Jietlshaiepr took the picture, a short, dark, balding man aged
about forty. "Miguel Ralampago... I think it's time we paid a
visit to the next of kin."
- XXIV -
The tall dark man answered, "Oh, I'm afraid my brother's left
system. Tight schedule he's got you see, I gather he had to make
a payment on his ship. I think he's behind on them, but he's too
embarrassed to tell me."
"So much for the drinks." sighed Jietlshaiepr, "Thanks
anyway."
After they had walked a fair distance Niedrsha breathed
quietly, "Why the fuck would somebody impersonate a simple
machinist?"
- XXV -
Kfoks strolled calmly into the Zylath Solarium. Sunlight
streamed through the huge glass dome overhead blotting out the
dimmer stars in the stellar panorama. Chairs, tables and umbrellas
testified to the desire of humans to lie under a sun whither or not
it was a real beach or not.
Jiel Kerreur lay basking on her stomach, paging though a
magazine. The snow white bikini she wore accentuated her deep
bronze tan.
"You must be the toast of Zylath." announced Kfoks. Then he
thought to himself, "No wonder she popped up golden brown
before..."
"Hello Taek." she smiled seductively. Jiel tossed her hair
over her shoulder and cocked her head. "Is there something I can
do for you?" She rolled onto her back and smiled impishly.
"Why yes, there is..." Kfoks sat down beside her and stroked
his hand across her stomach and up to her full breasts. Softly, he
hooked a finger around the strap of her bikini top as she stretched
to kiss him. "There's something I'd like you to get off your
chest..."
With a quick twist, the brassiere was around her throat as he
garroted her. "...What exactly is going on here?"
Jiel's eyes bulged as her mouth opened soundlessly.
"Speak up dear, I can't hear you."
He was cut short by the butt of a gauss pistol on the back of
his skull.
- XXVI -
Rackan's cabin was deserted. A half empty drink stood by the
bunk and the sheets were mussed up. No sign of struggle, just an
empty room.
Niedrsha stepped into the room surveying it at a glance. "I
checked Kaezorr's cabin: gone."
"Struggle?" demanded Jietlshaiepr.
"None."
Jietlshaiepr shook her head, "But what... Oh shit!" She
turned and ran for the ladder. Sick bay was on the upper deck with
two patients....
Sick bay empty.
Shtam and Gresha gone.
Jietlshaiepr hit the intercom. "We've got problems folks."
She surveyed her ward. At least, here she'd notice what was out of
place.
Patients gone... Instruments still in place... Both I.V.'s
gone... diagnostic records gone... Holo-computer link metabolic
monitors disconnected and thrown aside...
Somebody was in a hurry. Teleports... must be.
But they took them alive...
The ward blurred quickly and disappeared. The cold metal of
her battle dress replaced the soft film of her dress. She nudged
the power switch with her chin and the armor came to life. Sensors
came on line and the dim ship's locker came alive through the holo
projecting heads up display of the armor.
The fusion gun came on line and began to suck power from its
personal cauldron of fire in the fusion back pack.
Quickly, Jietlshaiepr switched the power leads to a plasma
gun. The fusion gun would rip through a bulkhead. If possible,
she'd rather keep Flamboyant in one piece.
Niedrsha and Miakr sat on the floor strapping on the leg armor
to their battle dress as Jietlshaiepr emerged from the armor locker
growling, "Get your ass in gear, they..."
A grenade flew down the corridor.
Instinctively, she jumped and kicked it back to its sender.
Combat armor, Zhodani, tech level twelve, registered instantly in
her mind. Her arm came up wielding the plasma gun.
The grenade detonated back by it's thrower spewing light green
tranq over the passage way. Her finger burned on the trigger of
the plasma gun but Niedrsha was just too close and not fully in
armor. The armored figure dove for cover as Jietlshaiepr drew her
gauss pistol and sprayed the corridor.
Vole leaped down the corridor in hot pursuit in long bounds
with legs driving like pistons, his laser designator fixed on the
spot where the figure disappeared. Suddenly, in mid leap he
stopped and fell to the ground. His heavy metal bulk fell to the
ground in a lifeless frozen statue.
Miakr screamed as a section of his mind shut down, half of his
senses went out like a light switch.
Two grenades came skittering down the passage and splashed
green tranq over Jietlshaiepr's armor.
Miakr's eyes filled with tears as the DMSO and tranquilizer
stung his face and then it suddenly went numb.
Niedrsha felt it hit his sleeves and slowly soak through the
material to touch his unprotected skin. Grabbing his gauss rifle
he rolled and fired a grenade down the passage as the muscles in
his arms went limp. The grenade bounced off the wall as the rocket
charge propelled it onward, bouncing off the walls like a pinball.
A second later his vision was gone as blackness enveloped him.
Jietlshaiepr cursed as she ducked from the blast that shredded
the crew lounge. A second later she teleported into the lounge
with the gauss pistol barking to enforce the shock.
The quarry was gone.
Teleported to where they could...
She glanced back up the corridor to where she'd been.
Niedrsha and Miakr down. Two bastards in combat armor.
Suddenly, she was behind one of them. Her fist, clad in a
bonded superdense gauntlet, crashed through the helmet scattering
brains over the walls and floor. Her gauss pistol coughed spraying
needles into the chest of the second.
Gauss needles splattered around the room deflected by the
contours of the combat armor as the wearer was thrown back by the
impact. It brought up a combat rifle firing on automatic.
Discarding sabot ripped her armor, buckling and tearing the metal
on her right arm and chest and shredding the flesh beneath while
slimy green tranq ended the burst with a sticky sickening thump.
Tranquilizer blocked the pain of the ripped flesh. As
blackness enfolded her brain she fought to focus her mind for
psionic regeneration.