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The tunnel of air has a golden hue to it. It sparkles and gives off flashes of yellow against the darkness of space. Like most technological wonders, it takes a while to complete its task. The brown sphere eased through space. The oval curve of gold slowly edged out from the Patton. It sliced through the blackness but, like the sphere, was in no hurry. The gold doorway moved at its own speed, as if testing the space around it. Halfway to the sphere it paused. Instead of gold flashes, three red sparks flew into the darkness. Directed by a computer on the Patton, the doorway waited. On rare occasions, it has retreated and returned to a ship. I didn’t want it retreating now, but it was impervious to my orders. After eight agonizing minutes it inched forward then gradually picked up speed. The Patton stayed about a mile from the sphere. Whatever was piloting the sphere could not be Artificial Intelligence. If so, all it had to do was veer away and our gateway was lost. But the sphere didn’t. It plodded toward its destination, ignoring the tunnel. If the sphere had weapons, it could also send one through the doorway that had been established. I was well aware that the Raiders and the Patton were vulnerable when we tried to establish a tunnel of air to another ship. The corridors of the Patton were sealed off. If a weapon blasted us, hopefully any damage would be contained to this part of the ship. We might be killed, but the rest of the ship should be safe. Space, aliens, or odd-looking spheres have a thousand and one ways of killing you in space. You have to be aware of all of them. Or you die young. There is also, I’ve always thought, an element of what might be called luck. Some soldiers have been at the wrong place at the wrong time. They didn’t make a mistake. They followed all the correct procedures. But a laser or bullet caught them. I’ve been amazingly fortunate in combat. I’ve always seemed to be in the right place at the right time instead of the wrong lethal place at the wrong time. I appreciate that, but you never know when that good fortune will run out. The universe likes to keep things in balance.
I looked out again. The tunnel had stalled for a second time. It was three-quarters of the way to the sphere, but it wasn’t moving. I looked back toward my squad.
Astrid, blond hair under her helmet, stood smiling. She winked at me. I nodded back. Rab grinned as he stood holding his laser rifle. He looked ready. But Rab always looked ready. He will say that there is no such thing as luck or good fortune. There is only training, courage and preparation.
The Cajun Asian, standing next to Rab, was ready and had ample courage. It is rare to find individuals, even in today’s genrich world, who have exceptional scientific abilities as well as soldiering skills. Kayli was one of them. In addition to her brilliance, she had the excitement gene in her DNA. She could also carry a tune. Well, she could do a lot better than simply carry it. Her voice could caress a song and make it memorable. Her laser rifle pointed upward. Ready to cross to the sphere, she wore a big smile. She waved and I waved back.
Murdock had a toothpick in his mouth. It’s his trademark. No one else uses them these days, but he likes them. He gets them in flavors. A burgundy one was stuck between his teeth. It moved up and down as he chewed it. Instead of a laser, he liked an automatic rifle. It shoots twenty rounds a second. Or is it two hundred? I should know, but the weapons people keep making improvements. Remington looks like an Olympic gymnast; huge chest, beefy arms, and he is just as quick. He would qualify for the sharpshooting medal but not the balance beam. He’d probably land on it and break it.
The goateed Haldran stood next to the Cajun Asian. They have become fast friends. We all look military, even Cajun. She’s beautiful but if you’re around her, you get the sensation she’s dangerous. Or can be. I understood it caused a bit of strife in one or two scientific facilities she spent time in.
Haldran instead, looked distinguished and did not have a military bearing. He had a relaxed gait, much like Clint Lamour. Clint favored his cowboy boots to military boots. He chatted with Carli at the back of the squadron. Unlike Cajun, who was ready to cross, Clint looked very comfortable conversing with Carli, and she looked like she was not anxious to leave either.
Geneva stood behind Rab. This would be her first combat mission. She didn’t look edgy or nervous. She nodded. Cricket looked as calm as if she had taken one of her sedatives. But she hadn’t. For a doctor she didn’t particularly like taking prescription drugs. She had patched me up a few times, for which I was enormously grateful.
None of the squad appeared nervous. Tek stood ready. He’s taller and leaner than most of the squad. A cigar stuck out from his mouth. He smokes as many cigars as Murdock chews toothpicks.
When I looked outside, the golden tunnel had moved closer to the sphere. Only about fifty feet away now. The gold light locked onto the sphere. For a moment it slipped, then returned. Slipped again, then the gold turned darker and stayed on the rock. When solid, it would flash yet another color, a bright green, which was the signal to go.
“Get ready,” I said.
A support team, with scientific equipment, was in back of us. They’d cross over when I gave the all clear.
“Let’s go,” I said when I saw the green flash.
We ran into the gold tunnel at full speed. The tunnel is safe, but even so, you like the solid metal of a ship under your feet, so the quicker across the better. Engineers on the Patton had opened the portal for us. We clamored into the sphere.
Barren and empty.
We stared around but there was nothing to stare at. Just a vast, empty room with a huge, solid, brown wall to our right. Miles long. Cajun and Tek walked over and tapped it with their hands. They flicked open their scanners and studied the readings.
Astrid stood beside me.
“Not exactly living up to its fearsome reputation,” she said.
“Just wait. I’m guessing it will later.”
“Spread out. Report anything that looks suspicious,” I said.
“Nothing can be suspicious if nothing is here, major,” Geneva said.
“A good point, but let’s make sure there’s nothing here.”
Lamour looked at his radar scope. It can scan about five miles in all directions.
“Nothing, sir. It won’t scan through the door but there’s nothing out here. Just dead air,” he said. “And old man river just keeps rolling along. Or flying along, as the case may be.”
Cajun and Tek were almost a mile away. I buzzed them. “What are you two doing?”
“Looking for the controls, sir, and I think we’ve found them,” Cajun said. “We should be able to open a gate in the wall soon. It looks about five feet thick. Not sure we could blast it open, but I think we can open it manually. When we do, the door should be almost in front of you. Give us about thirty seconds. OK, maybe a minute.”
“Raiders. Since there’s nothing to see, stay here. Should be a gateway here soon,” I shouted.
The squad had branched out but stepped back toward me. The only sounds were footsteps on the floor. Besides that, utter stillness. There is no sound in space and the sphere didn’t seem to carry much either. But Cajun and Tek made noise as they walked back to us.
“Should be opening in about a minute,” Cajun said.
The walls dilated. Instead of a spaceship, a forest appeared. Tall trees that reminded me of oaks but with broad, dark green leaves that waved in the strong wind blowing. Below, red desert sand surrounded the trunks. Instead of the silence of the chamber, we were in the forest that was alive with sounds. Birds sang. Chirping flew from the trees. Small animals rushed from one tree to another or scurried across the ground.
“Let’s proceed, but very cautiously,” I said.
We stepped onto the sand. A small pathway curved through the trees. I had walked just five steps when the red sand grabbed me. Fingers of fire sent pain through my leg. I yelled and blasted the sand. Yellow lasers exploded around my foot.
I was looking down and the explosion caught me off-guard. A green creature, incredibly quick, ran two feet from me before Astrid blew his head off. I yanked my foot from the sand. The Raiders took up a defensive position.
I eased toward the creature. It looked like a two-footed alligator but with a shorter snout than those back in my native state of Florida. Rough, bumpy skin like gators. Large eyes. No tail but very sharp teeth. Thing had a nasty overbite. And amazing speed.
“Tek, tell me what’s below us. I want to know what grabbed me.”
Cricket rushed over and knelt down. “Got bitten?”
“Not sure. But something sure hurt. At least briefly. Foot seems OK now.”
She ran her medical scanner over my boot. It buzzed contentedly.
“No bites. No entry wounds,” she said.
Bites from alien creatures are not our major concern. It’s the toxic germs they carry that can kill quickly and, often, horribly. That’s why we carry the medical nanos in our bloodstream. They can speedily wipe out alien germs and can, if there is resistance, mutate into substances that can overwhelm the attacker.
Rustling came from the forest. Branches on several trees shook. We couldn’t see anything because the forest was too thick. But something moved.
I twisted a small knob on my suit. “Let’s try the shields,” I said.
The rustle in the trees increased as our yellow shields coalesced before us. Almost invisible, they can stop almost anything that crashes into them. Two Raiders came alongside me on both my right and left. The other soldiers marched behind us.
Animal, guttural yells erupted from the forests.
“They don’t sound friendly,” Astrid said.
“Don’t know why they should complain. There’s no ‘keep off the grass’ sign. They don’t have a ‘no trespass’ sign either. Of course if they did, we’d ignore it, but still...”
A heavy wind hoooooed through the trees and brought the smell of sewers and dead, rotting animals with it. Noses twitched and stomachs twisted. We proceeded slowly. The red sand beneath our boots didn’t seem firm but it held. At least for now.
A bolt of fire from Clint’s rifle exploded a tree trunk and took half the nose and face off another green space gator. Blood and green, ragged skin flew through the air. The thing yelled and darted back into the forest. It got about three feet before thudding to the ground.
“The sounds are increasing. I have a hunch the forest is full of those things,” Rab said. He stood on my right.
“Let’s see if we can scare them off,” I said. “Raiders, direct your fire into the trees. If you see anything moving, fire at it. If you don’t see anything moving, fire anyway. One minute volley.”
Bursts of red and yellow lasers, as well as bullets took leaves and branches off the trees. Our shields are another technological marvel. Bullets and lasers can go through them but they stop all incoming fire. The firing stopped after sixty seconds. As I glanced around, I saw a lot of damaged trees but no fleeing gators. I didn’t have confidence the battle would be that easy but I needed to try it.
Cajun stared at her scanner. “Looks like about a thousand of them, major, and more are coming.”
“Guessing they don’t have a live and let live philosophy.”
“Doesn’t look like it.”
If we had been civilians, the roar would have frozen the blood in our veins. Nerves would have double-timed “run” messages to the brain. But the Raiders have molten steel for blood, or at least that’s what we’ve been told.
“What was that?” I said.
Carli’s voice came from behind me. “I’m guessing it’s that thing right over to your left, sir. It has big teeth and a strong pair of lungs.”
I turned and saw the large head with round dark eyes staring from above the trees. The head was attached to a green neck and a body about five times the size of a smaller croc. It opened its mouth and showed the enormous, white, pointed teeth.
While I was admiring the overbite, Carli’s hand-held rocket hit the green nose, exploded and rained blood and bits of flesh upon the land.
“Good shooting, Carli.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Keep ready in case we see another one. Let’s move out.”
I started down the path. Raiders on both sides and behind me. The green crocs sounded their displeasure as we walked. But the rustling sounds and the chattering of large teeth diminished. From the sounds they had drawn back.
“Tek, how far is it to the next chamber?”
“We’re in for a fifty-mile hike, sir.”
Which was not going to be easy. The red, mushy sand didn’t give much support. My boots kept sinking into it. Sand came above the rim of the boot.
“What’s with the sand, Tek?”
“I don’t want go into lengthy detail, but it’s not exactly sand, sir. Looks like it, but it’s not. Mixture of what we might call salt water, sand, clay and something else that I can’t identify.”
“I’m not going to do fifty miles of this. Raiders. Ignite your jet packs. We’re going to fly over this.”
I heard the rush of air as the jets spurted.
“Let’s go,” I said.
As Astrid lifted from the sand, a black tentacle flashed up and wrapped around her leg. A second tentacle grabbed the other leg. Our shields didn’t protect from underneath. Undisturbed, Astrid pointed her laser rifle at one tentacle and fired. The red laser sliced the tentacle in two. Sewer smells exploded in the air. I blew away the second tentacle with my rifle.
The squad soared into the air, getting us away from both the smells and the creatures.
“Moderate speed,” I said.
Two miles high in the air I spied the outline of the tall, bronze wall marking the demarcation of the chamber. We flew peacefully over the forest with its green denizens and spied two more of the larger creatures, but we were well out of teeth range.
Like ducks flying south for the winter, the squad formed a V in the air as we flew toward the next chamber. Flying is much preferred to slogging your way through a sandy bog with icky if not deadly creatures. I looked around but, thankfully, there was no winged counterpart of the tentacle monster that had grabbed Astrid.
Flying at cruising speed, the trip took just less than thirty minutes. We landed six feet from the bronze wall. I turned to Cajun.
“Can you open this one too?”
“Piece of cake,” she said. “Give Tek and me about ten minutes and we’ll have it open.”