The Colony Ship Eschaton: The entire ten book series, page 157
“Your orders are recorded and initiated, Captain,” Journal replied.
Tamar reached out her hand, and the green glow flowed over the color pad next to the bulkhead door. This door was very similar to the one Michael had cut open on their entry into the needle ship. There came a grinding and clunking sound as the causeway was extended across to the habitat section.
“Journal, please be so kind as to have some automacubes secure this causeway. Have Cerberus send over a red one, and find another red one to come and defend the machines here. No one, except that team Edgar is sending is allowed entry into my needle ship or near my machines. This location must remain safe until we relocate your friends. Also Journal, have supplies of food brought for me and these two humans," Tamar said as the bulkhead door slid open and the three of them proceeded down and away from the needle ship. "Now we go to and find Ares."
Nearly silently, Abiytal the Chronicler slipped out of the needle ship after Tamar, Jamie and Michael walked down the causeway, and just before the defensive automacubes showed up. She was very good at stealth.
21 Tropical trouble
The leading bluish-purple sphere finally reached a deck where there were humans. The two people were dressed in white colored tunics and shorts and had been rummaging through a small storage area. When they saw the sphere come around the corner of the hallway, they each let out a scream and raced away in terror. They dove into an open horizontal vent and crawled away as fast as possible.
The sphere turned on its odd purplish light and pursued for a while, then slowed down and stopped as it was too large to enter the air vent. Its four drive legs were wedged against the sides of the hallway. One of the manipulation arms moved into the air vent, and there seemed to be some kind of optical device which projected from it. The other arm moved about through the debris which the human had been searching. It pushed it all aside with a sweep. Other spheres then approached the lead one and waited in the hallway examining every aspect of the area.
The people who had encountered the spheres fled for their lives. The man was ahead of the woman, neither had ever seen anything like that sphere before. His heart was pounding as he slid into the dark horizontal ventilation shaft which the two of them had levered open not long before. The heavy grille blocking the far end of the passage was held up by a rod of metal which they had forced into the opening after forcing the grille upward. He knew that just beyond that grille was a narrow vertical shaft which would lead back to the world. He hoped the monster he had seen would not be able to follow, but he dared not look back and see. He was too frightened. He could hear the woman behind him panting in exertion as she too scrambled though the tight space.
“Hurry, it is coming in the vent!” She screamed. “Hurry! Go! Go! Go!”
The man squirmed as fast as he was able. He could see the dim light from the vertical shaft. His mind was stricken by the memory of the monster. It was just too horrible: the strange shape, the weird blurriness, the bluish-purple glow, and the foreign smells. He slid past the raised grille, and entered the vertical shaft. It was dim there, but better than the darkness he had left. He never thought about all the supplies he had abandoned as he fled from the monster.
The woman stuck her head through and into the shaft. She yelled, “Go on. Move up! Move faster! It is coming after me!”
The man panicked and leapt onto the ladder while he kicked his legs as hard as he could while trying to climb. His hands were sweaty on the ladder, and he slipped. His foot hit something and he kicked and jumped again, this time pulling himself up on the ladder. Frantically he climbed.
“Yiaaalooo!” the woman behind him screamed in agony.
He glanced down. In the dim light he saw rivers of blood flowing out of her back.
“It killed her! No!” he wailed. “It killed Kimberly. It killed her. It will kill me next!”
He looked away as fast as possible and climbed. That monster would surely come crashing out of the vent and rip him to sheds also. He climbed as he had never climbed before. Hand over hand, foot onto rung, up he went.
Finally, he came to the grille which opened into the abandoned hut he had found some time back. He slid this light-weight grille away and entered the round hut. Even though he was exhausted and scared badly, he replaced the grille and then took some deep breaths to calm himself.
“It killed Kimberly,” he said between gasps. “I must tell Haro. He will protect me.”
Leaving the hut he saw the familiar jungle foliage of his home. The thought of the monster urged him to move faster. Fair Havens was not far away, and he knew he needed protection. “Haro will know what to do.”
The trees were deep and vibrant green. The parrots flew from branch to branch with their brightly colored wings. The sky tube’s light shown down and was filtered a bit by the large leaves of the trees. That light was so comforting compared to the strange light from that monster. He was used to the flickering lights down in the underground tunnels where he and Kimberly had scavenged, but that odd purple light was too bizarre, too unnatural, and too foreign.
He ran toward Fair Havens on quaky legs and muttered to himself. As he approached, people turned to star at him.
“Edem, what has happened?” Someone said as he ran past.
“I must find Haro!” Edem replied. “A monster!”
More people gathered.
“Haro is here!” Haro called out as he walked toward the fuss being made around Edem.
“A monster! It killed Kimberly!” Edem panted in his breathing, he was still terrified. He could hardly get any more words out.
“Edem, take some deep breaths and tell me what has happened,” Haro said. He was a head taller and nearly three times the weight of the slim Edem, but Haro was without a trace of fat or flab. He was bald with only thin eyebrows over a square but symmetrical face. He walked with a smooth, almost artistic flare. He was dressed in loose clothing, but no shoes. His arms and legs were rippled with muscles, and his hands were very large. His skin was deeply tanned. As the leader in Tropical, Haro was confident in his position, yet Edem was obviously deeply troubled by something.
Eventually Edem related what had happened. His fears made for his telling of the tale to be sporadic and broken. Haro listened carefully. At the end of the telling, Edem felt only slightly better, but Haro, never showing it outwardly, was troubled.
Haro grasped Edem’s shoulder and spoke, “This will be investigated.” He walked off and began calling out, “We must have the Assembled Four gather together immediately!” His huge voice boomed all around Fair Havens as he walked toward the ring. The streets were clean and the walkways were made from packed gravel and sand. Haro walked along pondering what had happened. The walkways were set in ordered rows and patterns and when Haro called, the people paid close attention. He approached the ring, and by then a nervous crowd was following him. The ring was a large circular area, with a hard metal perimeter set flush into the ground. It was surrounded by rows of concentric seats all around that flat circular ring. Inside the ring was red-colored sand. Haro remembered the many challenges which had been decided in this ring. All of those seemed to pale in comparison to the terror he had seen in Edem’s eyes. Having faced many worthy challengers in the ring, Haro knew what eyes filled with horror looked like, and Edem’s surpassed any Haro had ever seen before. The problem facing them was not as easily handled as a simple challenge.
A very large white chair was elevated at one part of the circle. Haro walked to that.
“Please come quickly!” Haro called.
Haro watched as the crowd took seats around the ring. Spread out at equal distances were three more elevated chairs, smaller, but still bigger than the other seats which surrounded the ring. One was red, one was blue, and one was yellow. Each of those chairs was right next to a walkway leading to the ring.
“What is it Haro?” Brodie asked. He was a tall and muscular man with short dark hair turning white on the edges. His muscles rippled as he jogged up to Haro. His deep brown eyes were set under a heavy white line of eyebrows and his eyes showed concern. He knew Haro would not call an assembly unless there was serious trouble.
“Take your chair,” Haro waved toward the blue chair, the place for the second in command of Fair Havens.
Brodie could sense something was amiss in Haro. He looked around and saw that Monic was already seated in the yellow chair, while the crowd still gathered.
“Brodie, I am here,” Adeela stated as she walked past him heading for her position in the red chair. She was dark skinned and slender wearing a white billowy shirt and pants. She had cut her straight, silky, dark hair back to shoulder length after her severe injuries of some time back. She kept it short that way, which was unusual for women in Tropical.
Haro stood and then climbed onto the white chair. His large frame towered above them all. He turned in a gentle arc and addressed the people, “Assembled Four and people of Fair Havens. Edem has told me that Kimberly has been killed. As is our custom, I make the announcement publicly to you so no deception can occur. Does anyone else know of this?”
There was a collective gasp in the crowd as most everyone knew Kimberly. No one offered any other information.
“Edem is the only witness. He says, and I do not believe Edem is lying, he says he saw a monster and it killed Kimberly. They were in the places under our land. Those are dangerous places. And lately, people have been hurt badly when going away from Fair Havens.” He glanced at Brodie and Adeela. “However, I am not sure there are monsters. Machines? Yes! Animals? Yes! But I am not sure there are monsters. Again, I do not think Edem is lying. So I am going to investigate it myself,” Haro said. “Haro must know!”
The stunned crowd waited for a few moments as they assimilated what he had said.
After an uncomfortable and unfamiliar pause, someone yelled out, “Haro knows!” That was followed by other calls of a similar nature. The crowd then applauded and cheered him on.
“So grieve for the loss of our friend Kimberly. Edem says her body is not recoverable, but I will see if that is so. Haro must know!” He called to the crowds. “I will bring her back, if it is possible.”
“Haro knows! Haro knows! Haro knows!” the crowd chanted.
“So go about your day, I will tell you what I find! But you all need to watch as well. There may be a new threat. Beware, and be alert,” Haro instructed. Then, as the crowd dispersed he stepped down from the white chair.
Monic, Brodie and Adeela approached him. With Haro, they were the Assembled Four, the leaders of Fair Havens.
“I know nothing more,” Haro said before they could ask him. “I would not hold back from telling the people if I did.”
“Haro, I am not offering any challenge to your leadership,” Adeela stated. “But I wonder if this is related to when Brodie and I left here? Could this be some evil coming back to punish us for our leaving?”
“Adeela, I too considered that. You suffered terribly in your injuries. If this is some evil thing, I wish to kill it myself,” Haro said with determination. “I wish to do this alone, for if Edem did see just a large animal, or if he did encounter some machine, then I want to be the one to tell him and avenge Kimberly. I am Haro.”
“Haro, I must go with you,” Monic said abruptly. “Kimberly and my sister are close. More than close. My sister will need to know what happened. I did not see her here. If I have to challenge you to go along with you, I will do so. But I ask you as a friend; please let me go with you.”
Haro looked at Monic. Her deep ebony skin, nearly black piercing eyes, and black hair contrasted with the white shirt and shorts she wore. The look of sternness on her face, and tightly drawn lips, were as intense as was the look of horror on Edem’s face. Haro considered what she had said.
“Monic, I did not know about Kimberly and your sister Mina. Those are private matters, and love is to be encouraged. There is no need for a challenge to me over this matter. I accept your request and you and I will do this together. Mina is no fighter. Her abilities are in better areas, like growing foods. So you and I will investigate this together, for Kimberly, for Mina, and for Edem. That man saw something. He is truly frightened.”
“Thank you Haro. Indeed, Haro knows,” Monic said
“Inform Mina. Then gather what weapons you need. I will do so as well. Meet me at the ring and we will depart to discover what killed Kimberly.” Monic hurried away. Haro turned to Brodie and Adeela, “You will watch over Fair Havens while we are gone, just as we watched over it while you were gone.”
“May you come back far better than we did,” Adeela stated.
“Yes, indeed,” Haro laughed, but it was a forced laugh without real mirth. He trotted away.
“Brodie, what if this is our fault? We did go to that other world, and we did fight. What if that thing that killed Kimberly, is the same thing that tricked us?” Adeela asked.
“It could be,” Brodie said. “The fools from the Clan of Tobit called it a demon, and it certainly was evil. When you were healing did the machine Hypatia tell you what that thing was?”
“No. Hypatia said I needed a referral to Mental Hygiene, but that was not available. I think we should ask that machine about this death. Let us go to the healing rooms.” Adeela walked onward.
Adeela and Brodie walked briskly toward the large round building which was where the healing rooms were located. They entered through the door above which were the words, “Charity, Fidelity, Magnanimity.” They entered one of the rooms in the back part of the Center building. There were seven mechanical beds. The mattresses on the beds were thin but comfortable, and there were numerous dials, levers, knobs, and assorted other apparatus all over the beds.
“Hypatia? May I ask you a question?” Adeela stated.
“Yes, Adeela. Is there a medical situation? Scanning shows you and Brodie are in good health,” the mechanical voice of the artificial intelligence system Hypatia stated.
“There are reports of a death in the places under our land. Kimberly is dead, and it is said a monster killed her. Do you know of any monster?” Adeela asked.
“Monster is an imprecise term. Let me consult the lattice, please stand by….”
Adeela and Brodie waited while the healing machine did whatever it did when it said it was ‘consulting the lattice’ which was a new activity since they had come back from their combat at the arena.
A high pitched siren went off with three long tones. It was followed by Hypatia’s artificial voice, “There is a highest priority message: ‘PROXIMITY ALERT. DANGER TO THE SHIP. WARN ALL SYSTEMS. INVADERS. –ARES’ This is of vital importance.”
“Hypatia, what does that mean?” Brodie asked.
“Ares is not on the lattice. I can find no couplings or links to the Ares system. I cannot elaborate on the meaning of the message. I am sorry. Every system on the rudimentary lattice has the message,” Hypatia answered.
“So does that mean there is a monster? Or an invader? Or is there a coming invasion through the portal by the stockade?” Adeela asked. "Legionnaires?"
“I cannot elaborate on the meaning of the message. I am sorry,” Hypatia repeated.
“Hypatia, when I was injured, we had been taken to that arena place by something. It pretended to be Theta Four, the transport machine. But it was not. Is that thing the monster?” Adeela asked. “Please help me understand.”
“Consulting the lattice. Please stand by.”
Again Brodie and Adeela waited for Hypatia to answer.
“I have consulted with the systems on the lattice. There is a malignant system which has caused significant problems for both the humans and artificial intelligence systems. Its location, name, and function are unknown. It has been labeled The Voice by the people of Antioch. I attempted to postulate a connection between The Voice and the account you related of Kimberly’s death, but there is insufficient data to make a valid comparison. I am sorry.”
“Is this thing, The Voice, the invaders Ares warns about?” Brodie asked.
“Without links and couplings to Ares there is insufficient data to make a valid comparison. I am sorry,” Hypatia replied. “I did receive a message from Edgar and Roxanne acknowledging that they received the information about the reported monster. They are relaying that to Jamie and Michael who are with Captain Tamar.”
“Captain Tamar?” Adeela asked. “Jamie and Michael?”
“Yes, Captain Tamar, Jamie, and Michael are proceeding on a mission to locate Ares. They will be informed of this information from Tropical,” Hypatia stated.
“Tamar? Is she the same one that sent the white machines to help Adeela?” Brodie asked.
“Yes.”
“And Tamar and Jamie and Michael are….” Brodie started but could not finish. He had very mixed feelings about Jamie. He had refused to ask Hypatia about her when he had visited Adeela. Partly because he was so concerned about Adeela’s healing, and partly because of his emotional uncertainty about the people from Antioch.
