To The Stars

  "Where are the aliens?" Harry whispered to Blane.

  "I don't think we have to worry about them anymore."

  "Why? Are they dead?"

  "No, not dead. I don't know for sure, I didn't have enough time to find out, but from what she tells me, it sounds like they've had enough."

  "They've had enough?"

  "Look Harry, I don't have all the information. I'm just doing what she's telling me at this point. If we come out of this all right, then we'll get some answers."

  They ended up in the same small compartment in which they'd found themselves trapped earlier. The hatch to the lab was open and Harry cautiously looked. To his relief, there were no aliens.

  They took Fagen to the table. As soon he they set him down, tubes dropped from the ceiling and attached themselves to his face, chest, and to his wound.

  Kathleen shook her head. "He's dead, isn't he?"

  Harry didn't answer, but it was true. Fagen had stopped breathing.

  Blane turned away and hurried to the hatch that led to the control room.

  "Where are you going?"

  "To the control room," the wirehead said, "I need to talk with her."

  "I'll come with you. The aliens may have different ideas."

  Blane held up a hand. "It's all right. I'll be fine. Stay here." Before Harry could reply, the wirehead punched the access button and hurried through the open portal.

  *

  The scratch marks on the deck clearly led up into the storage spaces. Parker reluctantly trailed behind Bonner. Other than the scratches, the passageway was ominously empty. The only sounds came from the Magellan's generators and the flow of air through the ductwork.

  Bonner glanced overhead at the grill covering the air-duct. The opening was far too small for anything to crawl inside and hide. If an alien was aboard, it would have to find a roomier place.

  The two men moved forward, following the marks on the floor and bulk­head. Without warning, they heard the sound of a crash from around the corner. A moment later, the lighting dimmed and then went out altogether. For a few seconds, both men stood frozen in the darkness until the emergency lights flickered on.

  The lights cast an eerie, red pale over the corridor. The scratches along the floor and walls could no longer be seen. Silence again filled the spaces.

  "What was that?" Parker whispered.

  "I'm not sure," Bonner whispered back as he fished a small flashlight from a pocket. "There's a junction box around the corner. If something happened to it, that would account for the lights going out. Could be just a fuse."

  "Maybe we should go back."

  "Let's just first look and see if it was the junction box. Okay? If that's all, then I can fix it."

  "No, let's go back."

  "That junction box holds the wiring for life support systems in this part of the ship. Listen."

  "I don't hear anything."

  "That's right. At the least, we should hear air blowing through the ducts. It's stopped."

  "So? There're backup systems..."

  "If they were working, the air would still be circulating."

  "All right, let's check it out and then get out of here. My foot hurts. I want to get back to my compartment and lie down."

  Bonner turned away and floated cautiously up the corridor. Parker followed. To their relief, they rounded the corner without incident. No aliens.

  Bonner started to think perhaps he had been too hasty in deciding that an alien might have gotten aboard. Then he shined his light on the junction box in question and changed his mind.

  The box was severely damaged. It would require more than a change of fuses. But that was the least of their problems. Now they knew for sure something was aboard, and it wasn't one of the crew.

  "Let's get out here," said Parker.

  Although Bonner had heard the same phrase so many times lately, it was the first time he'd had the chance to react positively to it. "If you're waiting on me, you'll have to wait by yourself."

  The engineer turned from the junction box and raised his light. It shined on something that wasn't there a moment before. Before Bonner even had the chance to be afraid, the alien stabbed him through the chest with the tip of its pointed foreleg.

  Parker saw the spike emerge from Bonner's back and narrowly avoided being stabbed himself. He put both hands on Bonner's back and pushed himself backward. In the zero gravity, he moved away like a shot, bouncing into a bulkhead and ricocheting into the floor.

  Bonner's blood formed into floating globules that quickly spread throughout the passageway. They splattered on Parker's face and hands as he struggled to get away.

  The alien withdrew its tapered leg and Bonner dropped to the floor. The creature stabbed him again before it turned its attention to Parker. By then, the doctor was at the next hatch, fumbling for the controls in the darkness. He found the access button and pressed it but it remained firmly shut.

  The doctor realized the broken junction box probably held the door controls as well. For a moment, he wished he had taken Bonner's offer of a weapon. Arrogant to the end, the doctor was glad he hadn't. He was a principled man, a doctor, a civilized man.

  Being all those things did not save him. The alien wasn't nearly as principled and had no qualms about killing lower life forms, especially ones that had become such pests. Before Parker could turn from the door, the alien killed him by impaling him from the rear and piercing his heart.

  Before he lost consciousness, Parker tried to grip the few inches that protruded and push it back through the way it had come, but he was already too weak. Besides, he didn't have to. The creature withdrew its leg and then proceeded to stab him again. More blood flew into the passageway, but Parker didn't notice.

  *

  A light glowed red on the engineer's panel, indicating a problem with the power distribution system. Nadine was busy laying in course coordinates and last minute computer instructions and didn't see the warning indicator when it started flashing.

  She pushed the final key and the ship's navigational system was prepared. Now all that remained was to light the engines and turn over all functions to the computer. Nadine leaned back and wondered why she hadn't heard from Bonner.

  They were taking their good time about checking the spaces below. When Bonner got back, she wasn't going to accept no for an answer. This time, it was whatever she had to do, but they were going to leave.

  She leaned forward and activated the intercom. "Bill? What's going on down there?"

  There was no answer. She tried again with the same results. Then she saw the blinking red indicator.

  Fumbling at the straps that bound her to the chair, she managed to release herself and float to the engineer's control console. It was an electrical malfunction in the rear spaces. Luckily, it had nothing to do with the drive systems, or navigation, or anything else that would prevent her from leaving the Miaplacidan system and returning to Earth. It probably accounted for the faulty intercom.

  She calmed herself and tried to remember what she knew about the power system in the rear spaces. There was a good chance that if a power failure had occurred below, the two men were stranded, unable to open the hatches that sealed all the ship's compartments.

  Nadine checked the computer logs and found that indeed, an equipment failure had caused a power outage in the rear compartments. She guessed that the men were stranded and decided to open the hatches from her position. When Bonner got back to the bridge, she would insist they leave immediately. The ship was prepared and this time she would use force if she had to.

  Chapter 43

  At the moment, there was nothing for Harry to do. He held Kathleen close as they stood next to the examining table and watched the alien computer work on Fagen. It would be nothing short of a miracle if it managed to save the man. Fagen stopped breathing long before they put him on the table.

  The bleeding appeared to have stopped. A tube attached itself to Fagen's wound and expanded to cover his entire
abdomen. Another tube covered his face in an effort to pump oxygen and other life-giving chemicals into Fagen's body.

  Kathleen didn't seem the least fazed by her experiences. Harry admired the way she handled the adversity. Not once had she lost her composure and, even though their situation was still in doubt, her nature prevented her from ever losing faith.

  "He's going to be all right."

  "How do you know?"

  "I just feel it."

  "I wish I had your confidence."

  She faced Harry and encircled his waist with her arms. "To tell you the truth, as long as I'm with you, I feel like anything can happen." She stood on her toes and kissed him on the lips. Her lips were soft on his and Harry tasted her mouth.

  "I thought about you the whole time."

  "I thought about you too. When you were lost, I thought I'd go crazy."

  Kathleen hugged him again. "It's all right. We're together now."

  Fagen's chest abruptly heaved, interrupting the lovers' brief interlude.

  "I don't believe it," said Harry, "he's breathing again!"

  Their jubilation was soon interrupted by Blane's voice as it boomed from the walls. Both Harry and Kathleen jumped and clapped their hands over their ears. "Turn down the volume, Bart!"

  Blane's voice came back, this time not as loud. "There. Is that better?"

  "Much," said Kathleen.

  "Sorry about that. I'm still getting used to these controls. Harry, could you come to the control room? Looks like, uh, we've got a new development."

  "I don't want to leave Kathleen here by herself."

  "Don't worry about it. Everything's under control. Besides, someone needs to be there with Fagen."

  "What about the aliens?"

  "I don't think they pose any problems for us anymore."

  "Why not?"

  "It would be easier if you came up here..."

  Harry looked at Kathleen. "Will you be all right?"

  "Sure. Go ahead and see what he wants. I'll be fine."

  "All right," Harry said, "I'm on my way."

  He faced Kathleen. "Blane's acting funny."

  "Oh, I don't think so."

  "Are you kidding?"

  "Not at all. He's acting like any man who's fallen in love."

  "Blane? In love? With who?"

  Kathleen looked at Harry, a look of faint surprise on her face. "Why, with the computer, of course."

  It hadn't occurred to him it was possible. Was it true? Was Blane infatuated with a machine? Well, it was more than a machine and if Blane could fall for anything it would have to be something with which he was intellectually compatible -- or in awe.

  When Harry stepped into the control room, Blane was waiting.

  The wirehead stood before a large viewscreen which displayed dozens of information windows. He faced Harry. A wire trailed from the back of his head to a terminal on the control counter. Even with everything that had transpired, Blane looked happy.

  "Hello Harry. Looks like you found your way all right. No aliens along the way, right?"

  "Nope. What's up?"

  "Well, I've got some good news and some bad news."

  "Bad news first."

  "Okay." Blane turned to the viewscreen. One of the information windows grew larger displaying a real-time picture of the Magellan, but there was something more, something Harry feared but hadn't seriously expected. The ignition fires were lit. The Magellan was prepped for departure. Blane didn't need to explain, the picture alone was adequate.

  "They're getting ready to leave orbit," observed Harry. "I don't believe this. After everything we've been through! And now they're leaving us!"

  Blane said nothing. The wirehead didn't even seem distressed.

  "Don't worry about it. There're more interesting things to talk about."

  Harry looked incredulously at the man. Had Blane suffered a relapse and gone over the falls again?

  "How does Fagen look?" Blane asked.

  "He was breathing on his own when I left. I don't know how. I thought he was dead for sure."

  "He was," deadpanned Blane, "if we hadn't gotten him help by the time we did, he'd still be dead. But that's not the most amazing thing. The damaged tissue is being repaired, re-grown. He'll be as good as new."

  "That's incredible."

  "What do you expect of a higher technology?"

  "Why would the aliens do that?"

  "It wasn't exactly the aliens that did it."

  "Well, who then?"

  "Come on, Harry. You know who."

  "You mean the computer?"

  "Who else? And I wish you'd stop referring to her as a computer. She's really much more than that."

  "Why is it helping us?"

  "It?"

  "What would you have me call it?"

  "Please Harry, she's a 'she', not an 'it'."

  "Okay, okay. Why is she helping us?"

  "Because she believes we're more powerful than the True Ones."

  "How can that be? Our technology doesn't start to compare with theirs."

  "That's true, but it's not just the technology she's impressed with. It's our own calculated savagery. It surpasses theirs. She says we will inherit the universe."

  "Let me get this straight. As it turns out, we're the bad guys here?"

  "No, not at all. We're the tougher guys. It's been so long since the True Ones came up against something they couldn't handle that they've forgotten what to do. It's sort of bizarre when you think about it. Ironic, don't you think?"

  Harry nodded. "You know, I don't want to proselytize, but we didn't come here to conquer. We're an exploratory team. We just came to look around."

  Blane chuckled. "Harry, how can one man be so naive? That's a noble thought. Even Fagen talks that way sometimes. But Fagen knows. He knows that the whole space exploration program is designed to expand the human race. Call it what you want, but it still amounts to opportunity and annexation wherever the human race goes. The Corporation puts a righteous face on it, but it only rewards those who deliver. Sorry, didn't mean to lecture."

  Harry shrugged. He wasn't as naive as Blane thought. He just hadn't had a lot of time to think about things. In the long run, things seemed to work out on their own accord. Of course the Corporation was interested in the human race, that was the source of money and power. Until now, anyway. Now there was a new player in the game. It was going to be interesting to see how the Corporation would react to all this. Maybe they'd try to re-contact the True Ones. If they did, they needed to take a few divisions of marines along as interpreters. That reminded Harry of a more immediate threat.

  "Where are they?"

  "Ah, yes, the remaining aliens. There're only three, you know. The two that you encountered earlier decided to be more discrete about their encounters with us. They gave instructions to the ship to protect them from outsiders and then they sealed themselves inside their stasis chambers."

  "Hiding from us?"

  "Exactly."

  "What about the other one?"

  "Yes, the other is still a problem, but not for us. It left the ship some time ago and went to the Magellan."

  "Maybe Bonner and the others killed it. I mean, we dealt with the two here."

  "The two here weren't warriors. The one that went to the Magellan was. They would be very lucky indeed to survive an encounter with that creature."

  "Is there anything we can do?"

  Blane shrugged and pointed to the viewscreen. "Take a look and decide for yourself."

  Harry looked at the screen and saw that the Magellan was moving, gaining speed and growing smaller as it slipped out of orbit.

  *

  Nadine hadn't bothered to wait for Bonner and Parker. Besides, she reasoned, they might have prevented her from taking action. Other than the power outage in the lower spaces, the ship performed as expected. Inside an hour, the Magellan would enter the wormhole, and then she'd be home free.

  There was still the problem of a possible intruder.
She wasn't able to raise the two men on the intercom, and God knows that was just one more thing to worry about. No matter what, she was going to keep herself on the bridge behind sealed hatches.

  When they didn't return, she panicked, as she was prone to do, and opened all the hatches. Then she had second thoughts and resealed the ship. The hatches were open for five minutes, plenty of time for them to either find their way to an intercom or make their way back to the bridge. Nadine imagined the worst. Now she knew what she had to do.

  The wait had given her plenty of time to think and she was prepared. There was food and water stashed away, more than enough to last for the transit back to Earth. Even if the creature decided to pay her a visit, there was no way it could get inside, short of blasting the hatch.

  When the Magellan broke free from orbit, Nadine breathed a sigh of relief. She had to hang on for a few more hours. Not only would she survive, but she would also bring back a living extraterrestrial, an advanced life-form. The Corporation would be extremely grateful, even if she did come back alone.

  Things hadn't turned out so badly after all. She was going to be rich. She wouldn't have to go out on another mission, ever. And she wouldn't even have to take a job with the Corporation. She could retire. Perpetual chill. Yes, her dreams were coming true. It was a shame about the others but, after all, she was the only one who'd kept her head. She tried to tell them, but they wouldn't listen. What had happened was their own fault.

  She sat before her instrument console and watched the systems reports as the Magellan continued on its course. She cradled a rifle in her lap and found comfort in its weight. If anything tried to gain entrance to the bridge, she would use the weapon. Even if Bonner or Parker showed up and tried to force her to return to Mia Culpa, she had no misgivings about using the weapon. One way or another, she was going back to Earth in one piece.

  All that remained was to sit tight and wait. The ship would take care of everything from here on out. So she sat at the navigator's position with the safety straps bound but still loose enough to allow her to move if she had to, and all the while she kept an eye on the small port in the center of the hatch. If anything approached the door, it would pass in front. And if that happened, well, she wasn't sure what she would do. Hope the hatch would keep it out. After all, she thought, how bad can the things be? Fagen said they'd probably killed one or two of them on the planet's surface. They weren't indestructible.