I shut out the millions of questions that cascaded into my mind and forced myself to listen further. I let out a loud sigh, and urged, “Continue, Danny.”
“The Sanjii was the first station that was purposefully infected by the team here, and it was also the last station to be purposefully infected,” Danny explained. He had no emotion and conveyed no regret about being part of the sinister deeds that took place, and I didn’t understand why. “After Sanjii, every resulting infection was a result of the bacteria’s ability to survive, adapt, and resurface after evading quarantine methods used by the military. The first Hive was developed here. The first skulk was spawned here. Oni, Fades, Gorges and Lerks were all developed in the labs here on the Genesis.”
“How?” Nolan imposed. He had remained standing.
“The sample that the scientists were provided was mysterious in nature and of unknown origin. The team quickly discovered that it was highly able to adapt and survive, and constantly killed off the weakest traits of the bacteria and allowed it to rebuild, constantly making it stronger and faster. This all started of course, under a microscope, until the cultures began to take over the lab areas and had to be moved into larger, designated zones. A sample was allowed to regenerate over night only one year into development and by morning, the entire table was covered in growth.”
“It was a nightmare,” Knoll speculated.
“How do you know all of this? I thought you said you were part of the maintenance crew,” Nolan accused, and he was right. The stories didn’t match up. Danny, however, ignored the question.
“The growth began to flower. The blossoms were a variety of colors, petals that contained several shades and hues blooming from each bud. They were able to pollinate themselves, containing both male and female characteristics.” Danny rubbed his chin, and then continued, “The first hive developed after five years of bacteria being destroyed and allowed to strengthen and evolve. Most of its evolution took place through the process of natural selection, where the strongest parts of the bacteria would pickup where the weak had died.”
“They maintained control over the bacteria, though?” I asked. It was only after seven years that the hive had developed fully. That meant that the humans and the Kharaa coexisted for thirteen years.
“Even after the hive produced all of its species, they continued to destroy them and were able to contain them with careful measures, but the evolution ceased. The scientists had exhausted all creative ways of killing the creatures off, and reached a point where the bacteria that regenerated was basically the same as the last. The scientists sent word that the saboteur was ready and it was deployed on Sanjii. It was of course, an overwhelming success. The entire station was shut down, their workers were evacuated, Sanjii was disabled. This of course, was only the beginning, however.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, remembering that ‘Six Days in Sanjii’ had come out over ten years ago. “So the bacteria spread easily without careful quarantine?”
“Very easily. IronCore was terrified and disabled the Genesis nine years ago, abandoning all staff and personnel to die out here, and with it, evidence of the Kharaa’s origin.”
“So what happened? How come there are human experiments? Why were we sent on this mission?” asked Nolan.
“Food began to run out and there was no hope in ever returning home for the people aboard this vessel. So, they turned back to their experiments. They wanted to develop a way to keep themselves, or the truth alive. Kharaa are able to live without food or water, their bacteria is fed through many means and exchanged through many as well. The scientists knew that the Kharaa would outlive them, and so, they went to work developing human sperm into a Kharaa-human hybrid, using the hive on this ship.”
I felt relived somewhat, to know that the man we’d seen, strapped to the table, was not a product of sinister research, but an attempt to carry on life aboard the Genesis. My faith in our mission objective increased substantially as well. The information that was contained on the logs on the ship would probably provide enough information to completely eradicate the Kharaa bacteria’s existence. I knew what Danny was going to say next because it was the only thing that made total sense and explained everything that had happened on the mission concerning him. The fact that I saw it coming didn't make it any easier to accept.
“I am the second son of the Kharaa hive.” said Danny. My men were silent.
Danny word’s hit me hard. They hit me so hard that at first, I didn’t feel the vibrations beneath the soles of my combat boots. I wasn’t the first to notice. Nolan whirled to face an entrance to the plaza and screamed “Onos!” at the top of his lungs. LMG’s rose and swiveled in the direction of the threat.
“I can control them. Don’t shoot,” warned Danny, who remained seated in the center of the circle. My men hesitated.
The Onos halted in one of the many thresholds large enough to accommodate it. It stood proudly, three horns gleaming in the soft blue light. The mass of the Onos’ flank reflected a purple-brown color: the red and green flesh reflecting differently through the azure filter. Swarming around the monster’s tree-trunk legs was a legion of skulks, snapping their jaws, slithering along the floor and ceiling in constant motion as if the beast wore them as clothes.
“He’d better stop them,” said Pratt, turning off the motion detector, “I’ve never seen so much movement.”
“Danny, take us to the computer lab. Now.”
The Onos followed us, an enormous devil from the very depths of hell, but Danny protected us once again. The Devil’s minions, the skulks, barked like hounds and hissed like snakes, leaping over one another with their red eyes glowing, keeping near their horned master. Danny held them at bay somehow but I didn’t ask how, for fear that I might disturb his concentration.
The medical bays that Danny had prophesized arrived quickly. Halls that would have been illuminated with harsh fluorescence were instead, glowing soft sapphire, the same as the rest of the level. We moved at a swift pace, boots hitting quietly against thick metal flooring.
“Dan, how’d the Kharaa take over the ship? How come there aren’t a bunch of human look-a-likes instead of just you?”
It was Nolan pushing for answers again. I allowed it to happen because of my own curiosity.
“When I was created, the scientists became divided. Some believed what they were doing was too unnatural, creating new human life forms. Some of them were distraught after the first son’s birth, who was disfigured and violent. Many were angry, obviously, that they’d been left to rot in outer space and thought that any further research that was performed aboard the ship was liable to capture by the government and would be exploited. Research concerning my creation was what worried them the most.”
The medical sector ended and the corridor narrowed severely, Danny stopped but the Kharaa did not. Enders, Knoll and I stood by Danny for a second or two longer, but the skulks came within inches of our legs, expelling burning hot breath over us. Nolan didn’t bother to look back. He ran ahead into the computer lab, our main objective apparently losing all interest in Danny.
“Danny, come on!” I urged him, reaching for him with an empty, gloved hand. We were only a matter of meters apart, but it might as well have been light-years. A skulk slithered between us and snapped angrily at my outstretched arm, flinging saliva into the air. “Danny what is going on?”
BadMouthIt ceases to be exclusive when you can have a custom member titlJoin Date: 2004-05-21Member: 28815Members
foxtrot is a master of suspense, his chapters always having a cliffhanger ending. nice piece anyway. however, i feel that atmosphere is lacking in this chapter.
He looked at me with his coffee bean eyes, there was not sadness in them, but there was love. “I can’t come with you,” He said reluctantly. He didn’t reach for my hand.
“I don’t understand,” I said, pathetically emotional in front of all of my men, but I felt that we owed this man our lives. We did. He would be the reason that we’d escape from the Genesis and see our families again.
“Thomas,” he said. I hadn’t been referred to by my first name in so long it sounded strange. “If I came with you, you know what would happen. I would be exploited.”
The skulk between us growled like a dog, baring razor teeth that glistened in the light. The Onos grunted and shook its horned-head, skulks climbed over the beast’s body.
“Sir, we’re almost there, lets go,” Knoll advised. He was generally level headed. “I want to go home.”
The word ‘home’ echoed in my mind for a moment but then the blue, calm light of the ship switched to threatening, pulsating red lights. Klaxons wailed and shrieked and steam burst from every crevice and connection in a deafening explosion of heat and moisture. The skulks scattered, the Onos reared and Danny spun to face it, spreading his arms like wings. The beast came down, the metal floored groaned beneath the weight and a hand pulled me backwards toward the computer lab away from Danny and the monster.
A woman’s prerecorded voice presided over the pandemonium, stating calmly, “Self-Destruct sequence automatically initiated. Unauthorized removal of classified information detected. The Genesis will self-destruct in 30 minutes.”
I fought against the hands pulling me, the hands of my men, who were faithful to the mission and to saving my life. I didn’t want to leave Danny and I screamed to him, “Danny, we can protect you!” But that was a lie. There would be no saving him.
He turned to me from the other end of the hall and there was steam rising and swirling around him, red lights flashing, sirens wailing, but somehow I heard him say “There’s no other way” just before the Onos’ horn tore into him, exiting from his chest in an explosion of yellow blood.
I screamed but I was overpowered by the sounds around me and the hands that pulled me into the computer lab. Enders punched the keypad and closed the hatch on the Onos, who had begun to try to squeeze down the hallway that was much too thin, wearing Danny like a trophy who hung limp and lifeless. “He’s GONE!” Pratt screamed into my face as I lay on the floor in astonishment. I thought he was talking about Danny but then I realized he was talking about Nolan.
BadMouthIt ceases to be exclusive when you can have a custom member titlJoin Date: 2004-05-21Member: 28815Members
the atmosphere in this one was better. you wrote the part about Danny dying very well and I felt really sad after reading it. <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
and i HATE nolan. keep up the gd work <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
“Sir, we’ve got to get out of here!” Knoll shouted, reaching his hand through the steam and down to me. I was laying flat on my back and I could feel the cold metal of the ship against my neck. I could feel the ship shudder somewhere within. Knoll gave me much needed assistance in getting back on my feet and I quickly reorganized myself.
“Where did he go?” I shouted back to Knoll. The klaxons that wailed made verbal communication almost impossible. The computer lab was an enormous data center, aglow with computer monitors and blinking lights. Since Nolan had apparently taken the data, the only thing left to do was escape. My men were ready to leave through a doorway at the opposite end of the room, looking my way for the order. The ship was readying itself for self-destruction.
“I don’t know,” yelled Knoll in reply. We made our way between the computer terminals, weaving through the chairs and tables. Above the doorway by which my squad waited blinked a holographic message that read “To Escape Pods”.
“25 minutes until self destruct” stated the synthesized female voice over the ship’s speakers.
“Sir!” Pratt cried urgently, “what are we going to do?!” He had faced more aliens that day than most would encounter in a lifetime, but for some reason, he seemed more afraid of going down with the ship than being torn apart by Kharaa jaws. Maybe that wasn’t it at all. Maybe it was because Danny was gone.
“Let’s get the hell out of here!” I shouted back, shoving men into the hall in the right direction. Without question they started moving. I was in the middle of the group somewhere, Knoll was in the rear, I had no idea who was up front. The steam that gushed from the ship’s veins like blood filled the hallway and reduced the visibility drastically.
“Sir!” someone shouted from the front. Everyone kept moving but heads turned back to me through the mist. Suddenly everyone was stacking up and I almost fell over.
I made my way to the front and saw that there was a hatch that read “Escape Pod Bay”. I thumbed in an override and was awarded with only a buzzer sound, barely audible over the klaxons, indicating that my code was incorrect. Nolan had changed the code.
“20 minutes until self destruct.”
“Kharaa!!” someone screamed from the back of the line. An LMG popped in the fog and others followed. Soldiers backed against me. I backed against the sealed doorway. The gunfire ceased and then came the message: “Hostile down!”
Suddenly the door we were smashed against opened, spilling my men and myself onto the floor of the escape pod bay. I stood up quickly. The bay was a long corridor, lined with fluorescent bulbs along the ceiling. Along both walls were bulges with a door on each of them. Each led to an escape pod and they were capable of sustaining up to ten people. I whirled back to the door and pulled my men in, making sure all ten of them were inside, and then depressed the ‘close’ button. As soon as the hatch shut completely the klaxons became a distant echo. Half of my men laid on the floor in silence; the rest regained their footing and took deep breaths. Everyone was breathing heavily and loudly.
“Get in a pod,” came a familiar voice over the bay’s speakers. “I can’t stop the self destruct.”
The shattering of the brief silence we shared in the bay was Danny. His voice echoed up and down the pod corridor.
“Danny!? I thought you…” I shouted to the ceiling. I spun in circles like an idiot as I said it, as if I expected to see him watching over us from above.
“The bacterium recycled me, Tom,” he reassured me. His voice was warm. Enders ran over to the nearest pod and he opened the hatch. “You must go now,” said Danny.
BadMouthIt ceases to be exclusive when you can have a custom member titlJoin Date: 2004-05-21Member: 28815Members
hooray! Danny's alive! <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> although not for long <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
the tension created was great. the chapter moved at a face-pace as you intended it too. and you keep us guessing where is Nolan. how can any1 not love your work?
There was no time to try and understand. The ship spoke to us again, “15 minutes remaining until self-destruct,” and I ushered my men into the pod that Enders had opened. Even though there were 11 of us, which exceeded the pod’s limit by one person, I didn’t think it would be a problem. I took one last look down the long corridor before I climbed into the pod and noticed something lying in the middle of the floor several pods away.
“Get the pod ready,” I shouted into the cramped interior and then I went over to what I had seen. It was the data disk that Nolan had taken. There was blood nearby. I knelt down to retrieve the diskette but the familiar click of an LMG being cocked forced me to freeze.
I knew who it was and I rose slowly from my knees. From my right came Nolan, covered in his own blood. He had been hiding between two of the pod bulges. “That’s mine,” he said, poking his cx-10 at me.
“Nolan what are you doing?” I asked. We’d had our differences of course, but nothing to warrant such bizarre actions. Our mission was almost complete and all I wanted to do was go home.
“I’m getting paid by IronCore, Tom,” he answered, snatching the disk from the ground and waving it in front of me, “and this data is going to make me rich. IronCore couldn’t allow the government to find out the truth… how far the Kharaa research has really progressed aboard this ship, so I’m not going to allow that. I’m going to take the data straight to IronCore and they can do what ever the hell they want with it, as long as I get my money.”
“You were just going to let us go down with the ship?” I asked accusingly.
Stenler came out from the escape pod my team had managed to cram inside of. At first he said “Sir?” but as soon as he saw Nolan, shouted “What the hell?”
Nolan dropped the disk and quickly drew his pistol, aiming it at Stenler while he aimed the cx-10 LMG at myself. “Don’t move,” he warned, wielding both weapons. He began to back up to an escape pod, kicking the keypad and opening the door without taking his eyes off of us. I expected no less from a highly trained marine like himself.
Far off at the opposite end of hangar a set of double doors opened and something passed through the threshold. An enormous creature roaring loudly as it galloped down the length of the corridor. “Nolan!” Stenler shouted, pointing behind him. Nolan had probably felt the vibrations of the beast because he spun to see the Onos bare down on him, dip its magnificent head, and impale him without effort.
I leaped to the left, away from our escape pod without any other choice as the beast charged like a train down the aisle. From my position on the ground I could see that it had not crushed the disk and I scrambled across the floor, retrieving it. Meanwhile the squad had entirely exited the escape pod, staring in disbelief as the Onos turned to face me.
Nolan was hanging from the monster’s largest horn as Danny had. It shook the corpse free and then it regarded me with extreme interest, moving forward slowly, exhaling loudly with every step. The creature combined the aspects of an elephant and a rhinoceros, possessing an enormous tank of a body with three great horns protruding from a massive, flat face made of bone several inches thick.
The blood of both Danny and Nolan were splattered across the magnificent creature’s face. Beneath the smears of red and yellow glowed the monster’s eyes, glowing crimson as if a furnace burned from within it. My squad opened fire into the hulk’s exposed flank and it grunted, moving towards me with increasing speed.
“Ten minutes remaining until self destruct.”
I raised my cx-10 and unloaded what I could into the leg regions of the impending beast, but in no time it was upon me. The beast’s horn sliced through the air missing me by mere inches as I leaped backwards, firing what remained in the magazine helplessly. With savage strength and unpredictable agility, the Onos swept the horn back, knocking the weapon from my hand. With no other option I flung myself onto the broad face of the creature, grasping onto the two upper horns like handlebars.
BadMouthIt ceases to be exclusive when you can have a custom member titlJoin Date: 2004-05-21Member: 28815Members
wow. just wow. now i know why Nolan has been acting the way he did. great peice of work. especially liked the end. looks like a final faceoff to me. the time elapsed might have been a bit too fast though.
OMG this is amazing more more mmoooooooooooooooooore! <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
I could hear someone scream “Sir!” as I scrambled up the polished, bony surface of the beast’s face. I pulled my legs over just as it smashed itself into a pod, attempting to crush me. I rolled onto the Onos’ back, clawing with my hands for anything to grasp onto. I hadn’t come that far to be trampled beneath the beast. The flesh of the monster was rough but spongy in places, much to my surprise. I held tightly and the Onos reared, bringing its front legs several feet off of the floor. I hugged against it, holding for dear life, and as my ear pressed against the strange flesh I could hear it sucking air into its lungs and its jackhammer of a heartbeat.
The Onos came down with great force. I flashed a glance over to my men who were completely stunned at the size of the creature and the fact that it had yet to kill me. I quickly freed a hand, yanking my service pistol from the holster and clumsily cocking it against the beast. I climbed back up to the head as the Onos turned to face my men, prepared to charge them, cut through them as it had cut through two already, but I wouldn’t allow that.
Onos anatomy wasn’t a very popular subject seeing as how you were basically studying something you couldn’t kill with anything less than five men with big guns, unless of course, you knew where to shoot. I pressed the muzzle hard beneath the bone plate of the monster’s head, aiming so that my bullet would go directly into the base of the tiny skull. I discharged three shots and the last must have hit home because the Onos sighed loudly as if it were a deflating balloon. Its knees gave way and I jumped from it as the creature rolled onto its side, dead.
“Five minutes remaining until self destruct,” said the ship. I ran over to my men who were bewildered by the spectacle they’d just witnessed. I holstered my pistol.
“Let’s go!” I yelled, turning Druven around with my hands and shoving him towards the pod. The others followed reluctantly. After everyone was in the pod I squeezed in with them. It was dark inside and very small, especially since we were exceeding the capacity by one. There were only two ‘chairs’ and they were at the bow of the craft, stationed in front of an array of controls. The rest of the cabin was lined with a bench that circled the outer wall. Complex seats with harnesses and other restraints were not necessary since the pods weren’t suited for high speed travel.
“We’ve got less that five minutes!” I yelled and shoved my way through some of my men. I plopped down in one of the two chairs. Knoll sat in the other. “Knoll you know how to work this rig, right?”
“Yes sir!” he said, moving his hands carefully over the glowing control panel, pecking at choice toggles until we felt the pod detach from the ship. The headlamps on the ship switched on and revealed a chute through which the pod would slide and we would be released into outer space. “Sir?” Knoll turned to me urgently, “do you have the data disk?”
I turned to him with my eyes wide, but quickly grabbed it from my pocket. “Yes,” I replied waving it a little with a smile. “Let’s get outta here.”
Knoll pushed a few more buttons and the pod began to move. My soldiers found seats quickly. The chute gave way to the familiar blackness of outer space as we slipped from the Genesis and into the cold depths of space. Nobody spoke.
An indicator began to flash on the control panel and Knoll turned to me, “Sir, we’ve got an incoming transmission.”
BadMouthIt ceases to be exclusive when you can have a custom member titlJoin Date: 2004-05-21Member: 28815Members
pretty descriptive and good for atmosphere. i felt the tension during the coutndown. only fault i can find is with the death of the onos. i was expecting more but found it very anti-climatic.
Danny appeared on the windshield of the craft as a glowing hologram. He was smiling broadly. Behind him was an enormous hive, the walls surrounding it were thick with bacterium. There was steam seeping from pipes all around. “Hello, soldiers,” he said, “I’m glad that you made it safely. Part of me wishes that I could come with you, but I felt that I must remain with the hive until the end.”
“Thank you for all of your help, Danny,” I said. “Hopefully with this data we’ll finally be able to contain this… plague.” I paused and broke eye contact with the hologram, staring off into the blackness of space. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I must confess,” said Danny, he smile growing brighter, “the data on those disks is very thorough, however, I believe there were more experiments.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, leaning forward in my chair.
Danny stepped aside, allowing the camera to glimpse a large mat of bacterium on the floor of the room he was in. The bacterium had been built into a bowl shape, and inside, there were three glistening, pink eggs. A hornless Onos came to the side of the nest and nudged one of the eggs with its muzzle, sniffed around, and then disappearing again.
“I read in some of the scientist’s journals about rumors… rumors of landings on unnamed planets. Sections of the labs completely independent from the rest,” Danny started, “they’re giving birth now, Thomas. They’re a new breed of Kharaa. I can’t live without the hive… but they can.” Danny stopped smiling, realizing his time was up. “I hope that you humans are not destroyed by your own creations. You are all brave men. Goodbye.”
The feed disconnected and the pod began to shake. A silent but enormous explosion erupted as the Genesis tore apart in our wake. The pod’s interior was bathed in blinding light and violent vibrations threw men to the floor. The explosion continued for several minutes. I squeezed my eyes shut, covering my face with my hands, but the radiance was inescapable and when it was finished, the Genesis was no more than a few twisted, charred chunks of metal, floating endlessly through space.
“Sir, could there be planets with the Kharaa…” someone started to ask, but I held up my hand.
“We’ll get the word out,” I assured him, “but our mission is done.” -----------------------------------------------------------
BreakthroughTexture Artist (ns_prometheus)Join Date: 2005-03-27Member: 46620Members, Constellation
Wow. That was one of the best stories I've ever read (besides BadMouth's). You are very good at describing atmosphere - please do keep up the good work <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> Your Zombie Panic story was also great!
Nice the only problem i had was the way the onos died but thats only a minor thing.
Good Story <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Comments
never expected this. can't wait to find out what role Danny plays. and fade/human hybrid.
your chapter is excellent. cant offer any constructive critisism.
“The Sanjii was the first station that was purposefully infected by the team here, and it was also the last station to be purposefully infected,” Danny explained. He had no emotion and conveyed no regret about being part of the sinister deeds that took place, and I didn’t understand why. “After Sanjii, every resulting infection was a result of the bacteria’s ability to survive, adapt, and resurface after evading quarantine methods used by the military. The first Hive was developed here. The first skulk was spawned here. Oni, Fades, Gorges and Lerks were all developed in the labs here on the Genesis.”
“How?” Nolan imposed. He had remained standing.
“The sample that the scientists were provided was mysterious in nature and of unknown origin. The team quickly discovered that it was highly able to adapt and survive, and constantly killed off the weakest traits of the bacteria and allowed it to rebuild, constantly making it stronger and faster. This all started of course, under a microscope, until the cultures began to take over the lab areas and had to be moved into larger, designated zones. A sample was allowed to regenerate over night only one year into development and by morning, the entire table was covered in growth.”
“It was a nightmare,” Knoll speculated.
“How do you know all of this? I thought you said you were part of the maintenance crew,” Nolan accused, and he was right. The stories didn’t match up. Danny, however, ignored the question.
“The growth began to flower. The blossoms were a variety of colors, petals that contained several shades and hues blooming from each bud. They were able to pollinate themselves, containing both male and female characteristics.” Danny rubbed his chin, and then continued, “The first hive developed after five years of bacteria being destroyed and allowed to strengthen and evolve. Most of its evolution took place through the process of natural selection, where the strongest parts of the bacteria would pickup where the weak had died.”
“They maintained control over the bacteria, though?” I asked. It was only after seven years that the hive had developed fully. That meant that the humans and the Kharaa coexisted for thirteen years.
“Even after the hive produced all of its species, they continued to destroy them and were able to contain them with careful measures, but the evolution ceased. The scientists had exhausted all creative ways of killing the creatures off, and reached a point where the bacteria that regenerated was basically the same as the last. The scientists sent word that the saboteur was ready and it was deployed on Sanjii. It was of course, an overwhelming success. The entire station was shut down, their workers were evacuated, Sanjii was disabled. This of course, was only the beginning, however.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, remembering that ‘Six Days in Sanjii’ had come out over ten years ago. “So the bacteria spread easily without careful quarantine?”
“Very easily. IronCore was terrified and disabled the Genesis nine years ago, abandoning all staff and personnel to die out here, and with it, evidence of the Kharaa’s origin.”
“So what happened? How come there are human experiments? Why were we sent on this mission?” asked Nolan.
“Food began to run out and there was no hope in ever returning home for the people aboard this vessel. So, they turned back to their experiments. They wanted to develop a way to keep themselves, or the truth alive. Kharaa are able to live without food or water, their bacteria is fed through many means and exchanged through many as well. The scientists knew that the Kharaa would outlive them, and so, they went to work developing human sperm into a Kharaa-human hybrid, using the hive on this ship.”
I felt relived somewhat, to know that the man we’d seen, strapped to the table, was not a product of sinister research, but an attempt to carry on life aboard the Genesis. My faith in our mission objective increased substantially as well. The information that was contained on the logs on the ship would probably provide enough information to completely eradicate the Kharaa bacteria’s existence. I knew what Danny was going to say next because it was the only thing that made total sense and explained everything that had happened on the mission concerning him. The fact that I saw it coming didn't make it any easier to accept.
“I am the second son of the Kharaa hive.” said Danny. My men were silent.
This story is awesome!!
I'm saving this all to my desktop!
and this is the part where the onos barges in.
<!--emo&::asrifle::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='asrifle.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::onos::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tiny.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tiny.gif' /><!--endemo-->
You're not escaping so easily Foxtrot!
Write the rest of the story or I'm sending an Onos to your house!
<!--emo&::onos::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tiny.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tiny.gif' /><!--endemo-->
“I can control them. Don’t shoot,” warned Danny, who remained seated in the center of the circle. My men hesitated.
The Onos halted in one of the many thresholds large enough to accommodate it. It stood proudly, three horns gleaming in the soft blue light. The mass of the Onos’ flank reflected a purple-brown color: the red and green flesh reflecting differently through the azure filter. Swarming around the monster’s tree-trunk legs was a legion of skulks, snapping their jaws, slithering along the floor and ceiling in constant motion as if the beast wore them as clothes.
“He’d better stop them,” said Pratt, turning off the motion detector, “I’ve never seen so much movement.”
“Danny, take us to the computer lab. Now.”
The Onos followed us, an enormous devil from the very depths of hell, but Danny protected us once again. The Devil’s minions, the skulks, barked like hounds and hissed like snakes, leaping over one another with their red eyes glowing, keeping near their horned master. Danny held them at bay somehow but I didn’t ask how, for fear that I might disturb his concentration.
The medical bays that Danny had prophesized arrived quickly. Halls that would have been illuminated with harsh fluorescence were instead, glowing soft sapphire, the same as the rest of the level. We moved at a swift pace, boots hitting quietly against thick metal flooring.
“Dan, how’d the Kharaa take over the ship? How come there aren’t a bunch of human look-a-likes instead of just you?”
It was Nolan pushing for answers again. I allowed it to happen because of my own curiosity.
“When I was created, the scientists became divided. Some believed what they were doing was too unnatural, creating new human life forms. Some of them were distraught after the first son’s birth, who was disfigured and violent. Many were angry, obviously, that they’d been left to rot in outer space and thought that any further research that was performed aboard the ship was liable to capture by the government and would be exploited. Research concerning my creation was what worried them the most.”
The medical sector ended and the corridor narrowed severely, Danny stopped but the Kharaa did not. Enders, Knoll and I stood by Danny for a second or two longer, but the skulks came within inches of our legs, expelling burning hot breath over us. Nolan didn’t bother to look back. He ran ahead into the computer lab, our main objective apparently losing all interest in Danny.
“Danny, come on!” I urged him, reaching for him with an empty, gloved hand. We were only a matter of meters apart, but it might as well have been light-years. A skulk slithered between us and snapped angrily at my outstretched arm, flinging saliva into the air. “Danny what is going on?”
Now quick, post more before I die of suspense!
<!--emo&::skulk::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='skulk.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::onos::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tiny.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tiny.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::skulk::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='skulk.gif' /><!--endemo-->
“I don’t understand,” I said, pathetically emotional in front of all of my men, but I felt that we owed this man our lives. We did. He would be the reason that we’d escape from the Genesis and see our families again.
“Thomas,” he said. I hadn’t been referred to by my first name in so long it sounded strange. “If I came with you, you know what would happen. I would be exploited.”
The skulk between us growled like a dog, baring razor teeth that glistened in the light. The Onos grunted and shook its horned-head, skulks climbed over the beast’s body.
“Sir, we’re almost there, lets go,” Knoll advised. He was generally level headed. “I want to go home.”
The word ‘home’ echoed in my mind for a moment but then the blue, calm light of the ship switched to threatening, pulsating red lights. Klaxons wailed and shrieked and steam burst from every crevice and connection in a deafening explosion of heat and moisture. The skulks scattered, the Onos reared and Danny spun to face it, spreading his arms like wings. The beast came down, the metal floored groaned beneath the weight and a hand pulled me backwards toward the computer lab away from Danny and the monster.
A woman’s prerecorded voice presided over the pandemonium, stating calmly, “Self-Destruct sequence automatically initiated. Unauthorized removal of classified information detected. The Genesis will self-destruct in 30 minutes.”
I fought against the hands pulling me, the hands of my men, who were faithful to the mission and to saving my life. I didn’t want to leave Danny and I screamed to him, “Danny, we can protect you!” But that was a lie. There would be no saving him.
He turned to me from the other end of the hall and there was steam rising and swirling around him, red lights flashing, sirens wailing, but somehow I heard him say “There’s no other way” just before the Onos’ horn tore into him, exiting from his chest in an explosion of yellow blood.
I screamed but I was overpowered by the sounds around me and the hands that pulled me into the computer lab. Enders punched the keypad and closed the hatch on the Onos, who had begun to try to squeeze down the hallway that was much too thin, wearing Danny like a trophy who hung limp and lifeless. “He’s GONE!” Pratt screamed into my face as I lay on the floor in astonishment. I thought he was talking about Danny but then I realized he was talking about Nolan.
and i HATE nolan. keep up the gd work <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
“Where did he go?” I shouted back to Knoll. The klaxons that wailed made verbal communication almost impossible. The computer lab was an enormous data center, aglow with computer monitors and blinking lights. Since Nolan had apparently taken the data, the only thing left to do was escape. My men were ready to leave through a doorway at the opposite end of the room, looking my way for the order. The ship was readying itself for self-destruction.
“I don’t know,” yelled Knoll in reply. We made our way between the computer terminals, weaving through the chairs and tables. Above the doorway by which my squad waited blinked a holographic message that read “To Escape Pods”.
“25 minutes until self destruct” stated the synthesized female voice over the ship’s speakers.
“Sir!” Pratt cried urgently, “what are we going to do?!” He had faced more aliens that day than most would encounter in a lifetime, but for some reason, he seemed more afraid of going down with the ship than being torn apart by Kharaa jaws. Maybe that wasn’t it at all. Maybe it was because Danny was gone.
“Let’s get the hell out of here!” I shouted back, shoving men into the hall in the right direction. Without question they started moving. I was in the middle of the group somewhere, Knoll was in the rear, I had no idea who was up front. The steam that gushed from the ship’s veins like blood filled the hallway and reduced the visibility drastically.
“Sir!” someone shouted from the front. Everyone kept moving but heads turned back to me through the mist. Suddenly everyone was stacking up and I almost fell over.
I made my way to the front and saw that there was a hatch that read “Escape Pod Bay”. I thumbed in an override and was awarded with only a buzzer sound, barely audible over the klaxons, indicating that my code was incorrect. Nolan had changed the code.
“20 minutes until self destruct.”
“Kharaa!!” someone screamed from the back of the line. An LMG popped in the fog and others followed. Soldiers backed against me. I backed against the sealed doorway. The gunfire ceased and then came the message: “Hostile down!”
Suddenly the door we were smashed against opened, spilling my men and myself onto the floor of the escape pod bay. I stood up quickly. The bay was a long corridor, lined with fluorescent bulbs along the ceiling. Along both walls were bulges with a door on each of them. Each led to an escape pod and they were capable of sustaining up to ten people. I whirled back to the door and pulled my men in, making sure all ten of them were inside, and then depressed the ‘close’ button. As soon as the hatch shut completely the klaxons became a distant echo. Half of my men laid on the floor in silence; the rest regained their footing and took deep breaths. Everyone was breathing heavily and loudly.
“Get in a pod,” came a familiar voice over the bay’s speakers. “I can’t stop the self destruct.”
The shattering of the brief silence we shared in the bay was Danny. His voice echoed up and down the pod corridor.
“Danny!? I thought you…” I shouted to the ceiling. I spun in circles like an idiot as I said it, as if I expected to see him watching over us from above.
“The bacterium recycled me, Tom,” he reassured me. His voice was warm. Enders ran over to the nearest pod and he opened the hatch. “You must go now,” said Danny.
Must... see... last... part!!
the tension created was great. the chapter moved at a face-pace as you intended it too. and you keep us guessing where is Nolan. how can any1 not love your work?
“Get the pod ready,” I shouted into the cramped interior and then I went over to what I had seen. It was the data disk that Nolan had taken. There was blood nearby. I knelt down to retrieve the diskette but the familiar click of an LMG being cocked forced me to freeze.
I knew who it was and I rose slowly from my knees. From my right came Nolan, covered in his own blood. He had been hiding between two of the pod bulges. “That’s mine,” he said, poking his cx-10 at me.
“Nolan what are you doing?” I asked. We’d had our differences of course, but nothing to warrant such bizarre actions. Our mission was almost complete and all I wanted to do was go home.
“I’m getting paid by IronCore, Tom,” he answered, snatching the disk from the ground and waving it in front of me, “and this data is going to make me rich. IronCore couldn’t allow the government to find out the truth… how far the Kharaa research has really progressed aboard this ship, so I’m not going to allow that. I’m going to take the data straight to IronCore and they can do what ever the hell they want with it, as long as I get my money.”
“You were just going to let us go down with the ship?” I asked accusingly.
Stenler came out from the escape pod my team had managed to cram inside of. At first he said “Sir?” but as soon as he saw Nolan, shouted “What the hell?”
Nolan dropped the disk and quickly drew his pistol, aiming it at Stenler while he aimed the cx-10 LMG at myself. “Don’t move,” he warned, wielding both weapons. He began to back up to an escape pod, kicking the keypad and opening the door without taking his eyes off of us. I expected no less from a highly trained marine like himself.
Far off at the opposite end of hangar a set of double doors opened and something passed through the threshold. An enormous creature roaring loudly as it galloped down the length of the corridor. “Nolan!” Stenler shouted, pointing behind him. Nolan had probably felt the vibrations of the beast because he spun to see the Onos bare down on him, dip its magnificent head, and impale him without effort.
I leaped to the left, away from our escape pod without any other choice as the beast charged like a train down the aisle. From my position on the ground I could see that it had not crushed the disk and I scrambled across the floor, retrieving it. Meanwhile the squad had entirely exited the escape pod, staring in disbelief as the Onos turned to face me.
Nolan was hanging from the monster’s largest horn as Danny had. It shook the corpse free and then it regarded me with extreme interest, moving forward slowly, exhaling loudly with every step. The creature combined the aspects of an elephant and a rhinoceros, possessing an enormous tank of a body with three great horns protruding from a massive, flat face made of bone several inches thick.
The blood of both Danny and Nolan were splattered across the magnificent creature’s face. Beneath the smears of red and yellow glowed the monster’s eyes, glowing crimson as if a furnace burned from within it. My squad opened fire into the hulk’s exposed flank and it grunted, moving towards me with increasing speed.
“Ten minutes remaining until self destruct.”
I raised my cx-10 and unloaded what I could into the leg regions of the impending beast, but in no time it was upon me. The beast’s horn sliced through the air missing me by mere inches as I leaped backwards, firing what remained in the magazine helplessly. With savage strength and unpredictable agility, the Onos swept the horn back, knocking the weapon from my hand. With no other option I flung myself onto the broad face of the creature, grasping onto the two upper horns like handlebars.
tell US !
The Onos came down with great force. I flashed a glance over to my men who were completely stunned at the size of the creature and the fact that it had yet to kill me. I quickly freed a hand, yanking my service pistol from the holster and clumsily cocking it against the beast. I climbed back up to the head as the Onos turned to face my men, prepared to charge them, cut through them as it had cut through two already, but I wouldn’t allow that.
Onos anatomy wasn’t a very popular subject seeing as how you were basically studying something you couldn’t kill with anything less than five men with big guns, unless of course, you knew where to shoot. I pressed the muzzle hard beneath the bone plate of the monster’s head, aiming so that my bullet would go directly into the base of the tiny skull. I discharged three shots and the last must have hit home because the Onos sighed loudly as if it were a deflating balloon. Its knees gave way and I jumped from it as the creature rolled onto its side, dead.
“Five minutes remaining until self destruct,” said the ship. I ran over to my men who were bewildered by the spectacle they’d just witnessed. I holstered my pistol.
“Let’s go!” I yelled, turning Druven around with my hands and shoving him towards the pod. The others followed reluctantly. After everyone was in the pod I squeezed in with them. It was dark inside and very small, especially since we were exceeding the capacity by one. There were only two ‘chairs’ and they were at the bow of the craft, stationed in front of an array of controls. The rest of the cabin was lined with a bench that circled the outer wall. Complex seats with harnesses and other restraints were not necessary since the pods weren’t suited for high speed travel.
“We’ve got less that five minutes!” I yelled and shoved my way through some of my men. I plopped down in one of the two chairs. Knoll sat in the other. “Knoll you know how to work this rig, right?”
“Yes sir!” he said, moving his hands carefully over the glowing control panel, pecking at choice toggles until we felt the pod detach from the ship. The headlamps on the ship switched on and revealed a chute through which the pod would slide and we would be released into outer space. “Sir?” Knoll turned to me urgently, “do you have the data disk?”
I turned to him with my eyes wide, but quickly grabbed it from my pocket. “Yes,” I replied waving it a little with a smile. “Let’s get outta here.”
Knoll pushed a few more buttons and the pod began to move. My soldiers found seats quickly. The chute gave way to the familiar blackness of outer space as we slipped from the Genesis and into the cold depths of space. Nobody spoke.
An indicator began to flash on the control panel and Knoll turned to me, “Sir, we’ve got an incoming transmission.”
"Put it up."
OMG COMM !! DROP PISTOLS!! THEY GOT A PWNOS!
Very detailed, and suprising...really looking forward to the next part...
<img src='http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/images/smilies/bump.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
“Thank you for all of your help, Danny,” I said. “Hopefully with this data we’ll finally be able to contain this… plague.” I paused and broke eye contact with the hologram, staring off into the blackness of space. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I must confess,” said Danny, he smile growing brighter, “the data on those disks is very thorough, however, I believe there were more experiments.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, leaning forward in my chair.
Danny stepped aside, allowing the camera to glimpse a large mat of bacterium on the floor of the room he was in. The bacterium had been built into a bowl shape, and inside, there were three glistening, pink eggs. A hornless Onos came to the side of the nest and nudged one of the eggs with its muzzle, sniffed around, and then disappearing again.
“I read in some of the scientist’s journals about rumors… rumors of landings on unnamed planets. Sections of the labs completely independent from the rest,” Danny started, “they’re giving birth now, Thomas. They’re a new breed of Kharaa. I can’t live without the hive… but they can.” Danny stopped smiling, realizing his time was up. “I hope that you humans are not destroyed by your own creations. You are all brave men. Goodbye.”
The feed disconnected and the pod began to shake. A silent but enormous explosion erupted as the Genesis tore apart in our wake. The pod’s interior was bathed in blinding light and violent vibrations threw men to the floor. The explosion continued for several minutes. I squeezed my eyes shut, covering my face with my hands, but the radiance was inescapable and when it was finished, the Genesis was no more than a few twisted, charred chunks of metal, floating endlessly through space.
“Sir, could there be planets with the Kharaa…” someone started to ask, but I held up my hand.
“We’ll get the word out,” I assured him, “but our mission is done.”
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Good Story <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->