Chapter 81: Chapter Eighty

Galactic Calendar 259872/ 2000 [ Sol Year 4387/ Day 154 of 365. Sol standard year]

Days after of Crash landing/ 2

Uninhabited Island / Clearing of Escape Capsule # 405

Galactic Standard Time / After 1420

Looking down at the creature’s organs, Terra felt a spark of disappointment. She had done the dissection route in science class long ago, and this looked normal. All the organs were……

“Hello!” Terra said as she looked at part of the body closer. She wasn’t completely sure, but with how they looked she was sure she was right.

“You can see it, Terra?” Jessie asked and she nodded.

“That stomach, does it have two chambers?” Terra asked faintly.

“Yeah. And look here,” Jones said as he pointed behind all the organs.

Terra looked where he was pointing and frowned. There was a strange set of muscles along the creature’s spine. They looked mostly normal from what she knew about biology. But there was something wrong, something different. From the muscles nerve tissue connected to something that repeated down the spine. “That’s where the spines are, right? And do they look half-formed or weak?”

“Yeah, I can see that. But it’s what I can’t see that bugs me,” Jessie said with a small scowl as he looked towards the groin.

Terra looked at Jones and saw the same confusion she felt in his eyes. As one they looked at Jessie and after Jones shrugged she sighed. “And what can’t you see?”

“No sexual organs of any kind. That means that this thing and the other can’t reproduce at all. And I have to ask, from what were they born?” Jessie asked as he looked at them.

Jones blinked and then looked at the organs, and after a minute he looked up slowly. “No reproduction ability at all?”

“Unless this other….. No. No no no! It can’t be,” Jessie said as he moved away and looked at the second stomach.

Terra looked at the second stomach and then slowly looked up at Jessie. “You can’t be possible mean?”

“What?” Jones asked as he looked at the two of them, completely lost.

“The second stomach might be a reproductive organ,” Jessie said with a flat tone.

Jones looked from them to the organ in question, a strange look on his face.

Terra could tell that he wasn’t seeing what they saw. This manner of reproduction wasn’t something that had been recorded a lot. It was easier to think of anything else, but what she couldn’t say.

“Let’s check. I mean we need to……” Jones said with a look at the others. Suddenly Jones stopped and paled, slowly looking up at Terra and Jessie. “Hey, this is the same as the other one, right? So it’ll have the same organs, right?”

“Yeah…. Oh,” Terra said as fear shot through her.

Slowly everyone looked at the other body and Jessie slowly swallowed.

Looking around, Terra saw three deckhands working on the trench. Then her eyes went to the nearest weapon station and nodded. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she cried out to the workers. “You three, grab some weapons and get over here!”

The three deckhands moved, dropping their shovels and running to grab rifles.

Jessie took a step forward and moved in front of Terra as he watched the remaining corpse. As soon as the three deckhands made it to them, Terra sighed with relief.

“Good, aim at the corpse!” Terra ordered and the three deckhands looked at each other.

“Might be holding a baby in there that might burst out of its body. So watch it carefully,” Jones said as he looked at the corpse sprayed out below him.

The three deckhands all looked at the corpse and rechecked their rifles, ready to fire.

With a slow movement, Jones swallowed and moved the knife closer to the stomach. With a swift hand, he sliced the stomach open. From it poured a brown liquid and solid mass. They watched it sizzle and just stared at the mass.

Jessie felt nothing but fear that slowly morphed the longer he looked at the mass, and he had to check it out. “I need the knife, Jones.”

Jones looked up and with a word handed over the knife. Jessie only nodded before bringing the knife down into the center of the mass. When he brought the blade out, he saw that it only had one color on the blade. Jessie looked at the mass and used the blade to clear away a bit of the liquid. But after a minute more, he nodded.

“Never mind, we were wrong. Just a way to store food,” Jessie said with a small shrug.

Jones looked down at the dead monster and hid a scowl. To think that he was worried for nothing, truly the enemy was crafty! This thing dared to have such an organ to trick others!? But where did they come from?

Jones looked at Jessie and scowled a little. “Okay, so this thing has no way to reproduce even with a partner? Then where did they come from?”

“Something else. It’s the only thing that makes sense if you think about it. and it explains something,” Jessie said with a hard look to his eyes.

“What do you mean? What makes sense?” Terra demanded as the three deckhands all relaxed. sensing the threat was over.

“Something had to call the others back when their attack failed. And that thing might be from the same species as these. But it was a commander type. That means that these things had a job, maybe scout. That meant they were separated for that duty. And without a way to reproduce, these things must have a caste system in place. That explains the other stomach, this mass must be food for something else. Maybe whatever birthed them?” Jessie asked as he finished explaining his thoughts.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Jones felt horror as he looked at Jessie. He remembered how insects with caste systems fought, with mass numbers. They sent so many forces at targets that they walked over their dead to win. If these things called their scouts back, then they might be smarter than bugs at least. And that meant that these truly were the devils of the prophecy!

The hordes of filth, they must be the others of this foul breed! And that meant that they would come and attack, there was no other way to interrupt it.

“So crisis over? Should we get back to work?” One of the three deckhands asked.

Jones looked up and saw Terra and Jessie share a look. He didn’t know what they were thinking, but the fact that they could talk without words was telling.

“Yeah, go ahead. Jones will you help me move these organs,” Jessie said.

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

Roch sighed as the woman removed her device from his arm. “So I’ll be able to join the others, my dear?”

“Sir, please call me Qiana!” The woman deckhand said as she looked at a tablet. Qiana was a tall woman, with blond hair and a slender figure that the deckhand jumpsuit didn’t hurt.

Roch only grinned and laughed a little as he watched her.

Qiana looked up and smiled at Roch, trying to keep him calm. “But to answer your question, soon. This machine will tell what’s in your blood sample. Just a few more minutes and we’ll know what’s in you!”

“Of course. But may I know who’s down there? I just had a terrible encounter with someone before this happened. Like to know if I’ll run into them, you understand,” Roch said with a small smile.

“Of course! I regretfully don’t know everyone down there. But the person who’s been the most ‘loud’ is Former Senator Bradford,” Qiana said with a smile.

“Bradford!? The man who was a Senator? Oh good! He’s always a pleasure to talk to!” Roch said with a forced grin. Bradford was a pleasure to talk to, but only when Roch had pulled one over him. The two of them were longtime rivals in life and business. Both of them had inherited their companies. And to make matters worse, their companies had been against each other since the start. The two had fought over inter-system contracts for years. Not even Bradford becoming a Senator had stopped their feud.

If anything, it made it more fun for Roch! His company had raided by the government, he sent mercenaries against Bradford.. Laws made to impact his business, Roch bought materials Bradford needed or stole them. Of course the mercenaries were hired through a middleman. And once the mission was over, then the bounty hunters were sent after the middleman. After all, the best way to hide a secret was to be the only one alive who knew it.

“Then you like me to tell him you’re here?” Qiana asked.

Roch looked at her for a few moments, lost in thought. On one hand, it would be nice to let Bradford simmer in anger and rage. But then the fact that he’ll be able to surprise him and force him to react feels so better. “No. I still don’t know if I’ll be allowed to interact with the others. The best thing is to surprise him. And we have a habit of playing pranks on each other, and I want an easy win!”

Qiana only laughed a little as she looked at the screen.

Roch looked at her and then felt the warmth, the fire come back. Within him, the power that had let him tell the others the truth was back.

A beeping caused Roch to look up and smile at Qiana who only looked at her tablet. For a moment Roch looked at her and felt a small spark of fear and worry. “Anything wrong?”

“Your body is making a chemical I’ve never seen before. And if I’m reading this right, it only started a day ago,” Qiana said absently.

Roch felt his flame and called upon his ability. He reached over and touched Qiana’s right hand, smiling at her.

As she looked up, Roch sent his flame into her. As she stared and her eyes started to widen, he grinned. “There’s nothing there. All the machine saw was a normal bio-reading. Of course, there’s nothing that you need to tell anyone about.”

“Of course not, I just let my mind play tricks on me. I just need to have this machine looked over. After everything that happened that happened, there has to be some wear and tear. That’s normal,” Qiana said as she looked at Roch.

“Oh, and you should wipe the system, after all the scanner might have a virus,” Roch said with a small grin.

“Of course,” Qiana said as she wiped the system of the scanner.

“Still you all must be so brave! And lucky, to have found the tech needed for this shield! And you must have gotten it up so fast!” Roch said with a small grin.

“No….. we were attacked first. By this thing that could paralyze us with a roar. If they hadn’t driven it off, we might have all been food. It was lucky they got back,” Qiana said.

All Roch could do was stare at her, wondering what this meant for his developing plans. “Please, tell me more about who you talking about. And how to operate this wonderful shield!”

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

Bradford sighed as he leaned back against the corridor. So far, the situation has been getting better. He now had another pawn he could use, Kenny. And so far as long as he gave orders in the shade of their religion, both Jones and Kenny would obey him. He had to go over all the data that the cult had given him about them, and it was interesting reading. But the comment that Kenny said was bothering him. The words ‘Land’ and ‘Test’, only accrued near each other in one passage. The Prophecy of the Land of Deliverance.

That single thing was what the elders built their cult around. The idea that their followers would one day find that place, ‘the Land of Deliverance’. The Prophecy said that in that land, the true path of life would be found.

Bradford didn’t believe it, he never did. But he knew that the Ancients had strange abilities that he knew weren’t tied to their tech. And sentient beings in the Federation sometimes gained them as well. This power was multifaceted, with many different ways that it was expressed. The files he had read about the people who had them, the tests done. Most of those in the know didn’t even think the requirements to use this power weren’t fully biological. More people had gone to insane asylums to get them out of the public eye among those people than any other reason. But the prophecy might have been built around a core of truth. ‘Future Seers’ was one of the ways that the Power affected people after all. But those people usually joined the researchers in the insane asylums, as patients if they didn’t die. Seeing all the ways the future could go, it broke something in every race, all but the Ancients.

So the idea that a Seer had lived long enough to write down what the Elders use. But then that would mean the Elders were the slime he had thought they were. Slime that had taken something they didn’t understand and made something to give them power. Not the worst thing to accept but really, and he had known more people like that than others.

But that still left the core truth, the vision. Who knows what it was, but if it was true, then it might have been about them. The copy he had read seemed to be different in some places as if many people had written it. With what he thought that made sense. Then the problem was trying to read the truth that had been written over.

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

Duncan sighed as he looked around his office, trying to figure out anything. So far, everything has been going smoothly. The passengers who had volunteered had done so again, and the others were keeping calm. And for the cherry on top, Bradford was staying away from him. But as good as that was, it bothered him more than he wanted to admit.

Bradford staying away sounded good, but not if it made more problems. There was no doubt in Duncan’s mind that Bradford was behind the near riot. Bradford had to have heard that Duncan had called for battle, and if so, the riot made sense. Anything that Bradford didn’t know, was something that could hurt Bradford. Duncan had dealt with those types for years during all his jobs. But the one thing was that this time Duncan agreed with him.

There was too much that he didn’t know about this Roch. The way that his story sounded, just bothered Duncan. There was something about it, something that he couldn’t see. And he already knew that Roch was more involved in the sacrifice than he said. And he could understand why. If someone had tricked him into following a stupid idea, he would be ashamed too.

He hoped that was all, but there was something, something more.

Duncan shook his head, scowling as he looked around. “I’m not a new beat cop, I don’t have time for this. What I know, what I can prove. Nothing. But that doesn’t mean I can’t try and prove it. But should I?”

Duncan just nodded and sighed. If the man had a mental break, then it was only right that he let him heal. He’s seen more people who were hurt that way, and they had been healed. But still, there was just something about this.

A knocking at the door caused him to look up and sigh. Back to work then. “Come in!”

Terra came in, looking a little worried as she looked around, trying to come to terms with something.

Duncan sighed and looked at Terra with a somber stare. “So where’s Jessie? And you look like you’ve got something to tell me. The cut-up of those beasts done?”

“Yeah, and it's bad. Jessie is keeping an eye on Roth. But first the beasts? They had no sexual organs,” Terra said as she closed the door.

Duncan blinked and looked at her. “Then where did they come from? How were they born?”

“We don’t know,” Terra said before grimacing. “Well, not for sure. Jessie thinks that it might have been borne from a breeder caste. That means that what we killed was meant to be sterile. So then these might been used for something else, maybe even scouting.”

“And with how they all retreated, that means they had a watcher. This means we need to watch the whole shield and build up more defenses all around. If something knows to retreat, then it’ll know how to hunt. Wonderful, just wonderful. This means we’ll be dealing with something trying to find a way around the shield. Great,” Duncan said with a grimace.

Terra blinked and looked at him, a strange look in her eyes. “You think they can think sir?”

“No, no evidence of that. But sometimes, you don’t need to think to get lucky. And hunters are born to try and find ways around defenses,” Duncan said miserably.

Well, we’ve also got problems coming from inside the shield. There’s something else we gotta talk about,” Terra said as she sat down in front of Duncan.

“There always is kid. So what do you know?” Duncan asked as he leaned back in his chair.

“Listen, that Roch? Jessie pointed something out. Roch never told us just what he did,” Terra said.

Duncan blinked before he laughed a little. “That’s it? I already figured that out!”

“You what!? And you’re okay with him being here!?” Terra asked shocked.

“Yes. I know it’s scary that he helped that sacrifice almost happen but sometimes people break. And when scum gets into their heads, the scum can make people do things. We’ll watch him, sure but….” Duncan began only for Terra to interrupt him.

“Helped make it happen??! Jessie thinks he was the leader of that madness!” Terra exclaimed.

Duncan looked at her before he started to slowly realize what Terra said. As he slowly went over what he had heard from Roch the idea became more and more clear. “That freak scum star!”

“You didn’t know!? Jessie called it a ‘Politician’s Lie’ or something. Tell the truth, but not all of it!” Terra exclaimed and Duncan shot to his feet.

“He did that?! And I missed it!? I’m getting too old” Duncan snarled and moved towards the door. Terra grabbed his arm as he tried to move past him. Duncan turned and saw the fear in Terra’s eyes. Somehow, Duncan knew that whatever Terra hadn’t told him yet was the worst of it all