The Swallowtail Voyages 1: The Engineer's Escape Read online

  When the Council needed her, she was imprinted on a new body in a new location, sometimes millions of lightyears from where she had last surrendered consciousness. It was as though she slept through the lulls in human existence and aroused for forty-eight hours of action. Skye was often deployed for the suicidal, dangerous tasks that ordinary humans could or should not attempt, although she had also done many repair missions that were simply in remote areas that the humans did not have the time to spend in travelling.

  Skye was human in appearance—she was a copy of extreme detail, her designer had been obsessed with a certain blonde actress who lived in the luxury colony on the red planet, Yetzuma. He had designed Skye’s appearance after her—long, blonde hair that waved slightly, exotic greenish hazel eyes, wide and round as a doe’s, an oval-shaped face with a button nose and straight, tiny white teeth. She had a slender build, with well-toned limbs—necessary for any heavy lifting that repair jobs would require, and deft fingers that could manipulate machinery with ease.

  She had a blue space suit with a clear, bubble-like helmet.

  The space suit was made of an electric blue material that felt like something in between canvas and plastic. It sported a silver utility belt, built into the suit, which carried all of her necessary tools, and it was durable, waterproof, and heat resistant, yet lightweight and afforded a full-range of motion. She had a pair of white boots, which came up to the knee. The costume was based, of course, on a costume that the certain blonde actress had worn in the designer’s favorite movie: a space flick where aliens attacked a spaceship traveling through the Lhagti Dachir Galaxy.

  Perhaps the most important feature of her suit was a round, clear crystal of embedded processors which was home to Mal, Skye’s AI contact with the Council. Jovial and supportive, Mal had the voice of a sophisticated, urbane British Earth man. Upon her embarkation from the Swallowtail, Mal copied his consciousness into Skye’s suit, so Skye was never alone.

  Skye got up from the T.A.S. platform. She stretched luxuriously, and walked to the cockpit of the ship. Sitting down in the padded, black leather ergonomic chair, she pressed a button.

  “Hello, Mal,” Skye said as she examined their surroundings. She didn’t recall ever being in this part of the universe—the stars here were unfamiliar. “Where are we this time?”

  “Good Evening, Skye,” Mal replied. “We are located in the galactic region of Celaenium, on a moon of the gas giant, Celaeno IV. We have already landed successfully and are ready to begin disembarkation procedures at your convenience.” Skye stroked her chin.

  “Hmm..Celaeno IV. This is the first time we’ve been activated in this sector. What poor souls live this far away from the origin systems?”

  “There’s a small research facility on this moon, the Fori Research Colony. Established very recently, as a matter of fact. The Council reports they received a code 006 distress signal.”

  “Unfriendly lifeforms?” Skye arched a brow quizzically. “That’s not mechanical.”

  “We are the only response team in the area,” Mal replied.

  “Do you have any more information on the 006, Mal?”

  “The lifeforms are insect-like in appearance, and respond via a complex system of clicks. They appear to be intelligent, and have launched an all-out attack on the entire Fori Research Colony,” Mal said. “The first sighting of these creatures was over a week ago by a repair crew on the eastern hemisphere of the moon. It is the belief of those on Fori that these creatures were in stasis on the planet until very recently. The creatures have been, so far, highly aggressive, employing unsophisticated attacks of brutality on the inhabitants of Fori.”

  “I’m not so sure you should have answered the phone on this one, Mal. How many colonists are still alive?”

  “The most recent communication was now over fifty minutes ago. The remaining population of the colony at that time was five.”

  “What was the population before the attacks?”

  “Three hundred and fifty two,” Mal said.

  “Oh my,” Skye said. “I wonder what the Council believes that we can do.”

  “They would like for us to go in and extract the remaining survivors. We are to take them onboard the Swallowtail and then report back to the Council. We are then to let the survivors take the Swallowtail to safety, while we go back into stasis.”

  “Okay. We’ve never been deployed on a rescue mission before. Why now?”

  “Due to the aggression and violence of the attack, we are the Council’s last resort since it will take far too long for any other response team to arrive. The Council has not been able to get a response from Fori since the last communication, and the entire system has since gone offline.”

  “I suppose we will need the weapons for this mission,” Skye mused. “Can this ship print out anything other than engineering tools?”

  “I’m afraid our options are quite limited in that regard,” Mal said. “It appears the Swallowtail’s designers didn’t intend for you to be engaged in weaponized combat.”

  “Well isn’t that just wonderful,” Skye said. “How limited are we talking here?”

  “Hum, all I’m seeing are a Model 2 Rechargeable Disruptor and a rather dated schematic for a plasma blaster.”

  “Ugh. Mal, please request that weapon schematics be included in the next firmware update,” Skye said. She walked over to the T.A.S. “Show me the money.”

  “On it. Shall I print you a couple of holsters compatible with your utility belt?”

  “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Mal.”

  The T.A.S. hummed in response, the weapons and holsters sliding out and hitting the side of the pod with a clunk as they were produced.

  Skye reached forward, attaching the holsters to her belt before removing the disrupter and the plasma blaster.

  “Tell me more about Celaeno IV’s moon,” Skye said.

  “Though weaker than that of earth, the atmosphere consists of several gases, including nitrogen, and sodium, as well as hydrogen and trace amounts of oxygen. The surface of Celaeno IV’s moon is made up of a rocky soil that has the consistency of sand. It is loose, and makes small rock formations. It is covered in piles of large formations made of boulders. The plant life is almost nonexistent, composed mainly of a small variety of species of moss and mold. Most notable about the biology of Celaeno IV’s moon is the discovery of the polyatomic ion that the Fori Research Facility is calling Celaenium Matter. The polyatomic ion occurs naturally in small pools and lakes across the moon’s surface. It is a liquid metallic substance with a high viscosity, and in the entire explored region of the galaxy, it has only been detected on the moon of Celaeno IV. Its uses are currently unknown, and its properties were being researched by the Fori colonists before the attack. It is heated by temperatures as low as that of the human body, yet is highly corrosive when it comes into contact with materials other than rock or soil.

  “Fori Research Colony was established five years ago by the explorer and scientist, Doctor Mara Fori, in conjunction with a team of xeno-archaeologists led by Professor Hector Lewis of the University of Andromeda. Its population is currently status unknown. The Fori Research Colony is run on solar panels that are placed across the entirety of the moon’s surface, supplying the Colony with the energy to sustain growth of agricultural products and habitation, in addition to the beginnings of small-scale industrial production in the hope of becoming a self-sustaining unit.”

  “That’s sad to hear,” Skye remarked. “All their years of work to study something unique, only for it all to be destroyed.” “Indeed.”

  “Open the viewports for me,” Skye said, stepping into her suit. “I’d like to take a look.”

  “You’re the boss,” Mal replied.The upper halves of the walls shivered and became translucent.

  Skye looked outside as she pulled on her helmet. She twisted the helmet clockwise, listening to it slide into the “locked” position. She saw the ground, scattered lightly with large
, boulder-like rocks in piles, and here and there, a pool of dark liquid.

  “Those pools,” Skye said. “Are they the polyatomic ion, Mal?”

  “Indeed they are. It is the only liquid found on Celaeno IV’s moon.”

  “I see.” She looked around, noting the lack of any movement across the surface of the moon. “I don’t see any lifeforms.”

  “Perhaps they have taken cover,” Mal suggested. “They may not have spotted us yet. Remember that all of colony’s systems have gone offline.”

  “Where would the hostile lifeforms have gone, though? It doesn’t look as though there is anywhere for them to hide—and why would they? They’ve wiped out the entire colony.”

  “And that’s what’s left of the colony, I’m assuming?” Sky asked. She pointed to a series of block-like buildings of a white metal, brilliant against the backdrop of taupe soil and dark pools.

  “That would be a correct assumption.”

  It appeared that much of the electricity was still running at the Colony, although the lights were blinking on and off in some of the buildings, as though they had been short-circuited. Viewing portals had been broken, and there were signs of damage to some of the structures. One looked as if it had burned inside before depressurising.

  Other than the flickering lights, Skye saw no movement by the viewing portals.

  “I guess we better get this show on the road,” Skye said. She walked over to the ship’s exit bay and it beeped as the door opened and lowered into an exit ramp.

  “Mal, send a message to the Council. Let them know that we have landed at Fori Research Colony, and that there is no visible sign of life. We are exiting the Swallowtail and preparing to enter Fori.”

  “Very good, Skye,” Mal replied. “The message has been sent successfully. The Council’s standing orders are for you to proceed with the mission.”

  “Okay, Mal,” Skye said, unholstering the disruptor and activating her augmented reality HUD. It showed her a readout of the time that the body she was in would last—already twenty minutes of the forty-eight hour time window had elapsed. “Let’s get a move on.” The round crystal in the center of her chest pinged as Mal uploaded. A pleasant blue light glowed and pulsated from the dome over her heart.

  “All set, Skye,” Mal’s voice chirped pleasantly in the helmet’s earpiece.

  Skye strode down the exit ramp, holding the disruptor in her hand, keeping it pointed at the ground. As she walked to the nearest building, she couldn’t help but notice how still everything seemed, as if she were the only living being within thousands of lightyears. What unsettled her more was the realization that she was not alone on this planet.

  Skye took out her Information Transfer Port, unhooking it from her utility belt. She opened the panel beside the door to the Fori Research colony, and plugged it in. All ITP devices in the Council planets had been streamlined about a decade before so that they all shared the same permissions and transfer protocols. Although Skye didn’t hold an official rank within Spacewing, she was assigned a provisional ranking of Lieutenant for each mission.

  Skye imagined what the Fori Research Colony must have looked like before the attacks—the facility was well-designed, with bright lighting and short, gray carpeting that muffled her footsteps. Along the hallway, succulent plants that were common in Earth’s deserts lined the walls. It was common for humans to bring little reminders of their Earth-origins to their colonies.

  Skye checked the rooms that she passed by—all were empty.

  “Where would they have gone?” she asked Mal.

  “What about the kitchen?” Mal asked. “It would be a safe place for them to stay, and there is food there.”

  “Not to mention potential weapons,” Skye said, thinking of pans and knives.

  “No need to get all gloom and doom,” Mal replied.

  “There doesn’t appear any reason to celebrate, either.”

  “Uploading map of the Fori Research Facilities,” Mal said grimly. Skye adjusted her HUD, seeing a coordinates map upload in the corner, a moving red dot indicating her location. She noted the time—it had taken an additional five minutes to get this far.

  She looked inside of a door to her right—it was a laboratory. She walked inside, looking about. There was an ominous stain of arterial spray across the back wall. She found the bodies of two scientists, thrown in a pile in the corner.

  “Oh, no,” Mal said. “I think I may be ill.”

  “You have no stomach,” Skye said.

  “Neither do you,” Mal replied.

  “You’re wrong on that one,” Skye replied as she stepped closer to the fallen figures. “It’s just… vestigial.”

  One was a man, dressed in a yellow shirt and a lab coat. He had defensive wounds on his forearms, as though he had tried to fend off the lifeforms without a weapon. The other was a woman, wearing a short black dress with a lab coat over the top. A picture flashed across her HUD—the woman, in a security clearance badge photo, taken a few years prior. As the photo flashed across the screen, the notice of her death would be transmitted to the Council, as Skye was still in range of the Swallowtail.

  “Doctor Mara Fori,” Mal said. “Founder and lead researcher on the Fori Research Colony. The man is her husband, Doctor Lionel Fori, also a researcher.”

  “How long have they been deceased?” Skye asked.

  “Due to the levels of decomposition and lividity,” Mal replied evenly. “I deduce it has been approximately seventy-two hours.”

  Beside Mara Fori’s outstretched hand was a plasma blaster. Skye picked it up, examining it. It had been tampered with; the setting for intensity had been manually overridden beyond the maximum recommended specifications, causing it to emit a much more intense packet of plasma when it was triggered.

  “It’s been modified,” she said. “But it overheated because the strength of the burst has been set too high. It’s of no use anymore.” She dropped it to the ground, and then walked along the lab tables.

  There was a series of beakers on one of the lab tables, all holding a dark metallic liquid. The blinking, malfunctioning lights of the lab glinted off of the liquid. Skye picked up one of the beakers, studying it. She tilted it to the side, watching it slide up against the glass of its container.

  “Is that it, Mal?” Skye asked.

  “The Celaenium Matter,” Mal said. “Slate gray in color with a metallic sheen.”

  “Hm,” Skye said. “Can you upload Fori’s findings on it? We may need it.”

  “Excellent idea. Uploading the research files off of Fori’s mainframe.” Skye then headed back into the hallway. Following the map that was on her HUD, she turned the corner and went down a set of white plexi-marble stairs before making a right and entering a dining area. It had cafeteria style seats and tables. Skye took in a quick breath when she saw the bodies.

  They were hunched over the tables, still in their seats. Others were collapsed upon the floor, with horrifyingly gruesome injuries. Skye walked to the nearest form, a man who was slumped over at a table. She lifted his head to find a neat slice across his neck. His face was pale and bluish: bloodless.

  “A thin blade-like cut,” Mal said. “Note the lack of tearing. The creatures must have weapons of some sort. That is something that the Council did not mention.”

  “What did the Council mention, by any chance?” A red arrow flashed to a body that was on the floor. Its limbs had been brutally pulled off, as though it had been drawn and quartered.

  “That, unfortunately,” Mal said.

  Skye walked over, looking down at the mangled body. Beside it, she found another discarded plasma blaster. Picking it up and examining it, she noticed that it too had the modification.

  “Is it usable?” Mal asked.

  “No,” she exhaled solemnly, and turned. Leading down the aisle between two long cafeteria tables was a large, brownish-red stain, with drag marks leading toward the kitchen area.

  “Do you see that, Mal?”

&
nbsp; “Oh dear,” Mal said. “It appears as though someone has bled out.” Placing the damaged plasma blaster on the cafeteria table, Skye silently lifted the disruptor in her hands, aiming in the direction of the door to the kitchen, trying to walk around the sticky blood stain on the floor. The lights in the kitchen were blinking on and off. Skye peered through the viewing portal in the kitchen door. Seeing a pair of feet on the floor behind a metal counter, Skye went in, checking the corners of the room as she entered. Walking over to the counter, Skye peered over it.

  Behind the counter lay several bodies of Fori residents. Two small children were curled up beside the man, who had been thrown down onto the floor unceremoniously. He had defensive wounds on his forearms and a wide, neat slash across his throat. Beside him, there was a woman, who had been dragged into the kitchen post-mortem. She was pale, bloodless, and the stain ended at her body. The humans’ security badge photos flashed across Skye’s screen, the news of their demise transmitted to the Council.

  “How sad,” Mal said mournfully. “Poor dears.”

  “They don’t appear to have been dead for very long,” Skye noted.

  “No,” Mal agreed. “This happened within the past several hours.”

  Suddenly, there was a sound across the room, and Skye beheld a two-meter high insect-like being, its body raised like a question-mark. It had two long forelegs like a mantis, which ended in sharp blade-like edges. Immediately the precise slices in some of the victims made sense. These creatures didn’t carry didn’t carry bladed weapons; they essentially had two scythes for forearms. The creature made a clicking noise out of the fanged carapace in the facial region of its triangular, snake-shaped head.