Visitor, page 36
“You do that,” he said softly. “Do svidaniya.”
Cassie cried out as Dmitry placed the barrel of the gun into his mouth and pulled the trigger.
Chapter 90
IT STARTED OUT WITH a bout of nausea. Cassie had been weeping uncontrollably after Dmitry’s suicide, and she stayed within her cabin for an entire day. When she woke up after a short nap, her body heaved and she nearly vomited.
The queasiness subsided after an hour and she fell asleep once more, only to wake up with pain shooting along her spine. At first it felt like muscle cramps, but she could feel the crippling agony all the way into her joints.
She remembered Lotte coming inside, followed by Hudson. Cassie was too weary to recall what they were conversing about just outside the doorway. Lotte and Hudson took turns bringing her food and water, even helping to escort her to the toilet module whenever she asked. In time the pain gave way to relentless fatigue, and she would only stay awake long enough to get some bland tasting food into her stomach before drifting off to sleep once again.
OPENING HER EYES ANEW, Cassie became aware of a flashing red light coming from the monitor screen inside her room. She still felt weak, but her mind was finally clear and alert.
How long was I out? she thought. A few days maybe? A week?
Drifting closer towards the monitor screen, she tapped on the virtual menu. When the numbers came up, she let out a dry gasp of horror.
Several weeks had already passed. The Argo flew past Earth’s gravity well the day before and was now on her way towards Mars.
Her mind was gripped with sudden terror, Cassie fearfully began switching channels on the live video feed. The thoughts of having been abandoned to her fate sent chilling waves of dread along her entire body, making her tremble.
When the sixth channel feed showed the Phoenix still attached to the aft portion of the Argo, the waves of despair in her mind were momentarily abated by a blanket of confusion. Wait a minute, she thought. Nobody left?
The remaining video feed revealed the empty docking port where the Rama had once been connected to. That’s crazy, she thought. If they took that capsule back, she’d burn up during reentry because the lander doesn’t have a heat shield.
Cassie slid the door open and launched herself out of her cabin. The access tube was filled with all sorts of floating debris. Only the emergency lights seemed to be functioning, bathing the Argo’s interior in a dim haze of crimson and yellow.
Making her way into the lower deck, she threw the lab door open. No one was inside. Cassie was just about to turn around, when she noticed a video had been recorded on the laptop that was attached to the wall. Moving closer to it, she tapped on the play button.
Lotte’s smiling face appeared. “Hello, Cassie. If you’re watching this then it’s possible you may have recovered from your infection with a sound mind. How do I know this? Because it happened to me too.”
“When Professor Chuck and I were taking turns caring for you, I started getting the same symptoms,” the Argo’s medical officer said. “Chuck was gracious enough to supply me with enough food and water before locking me inside.”
“After about a week, here are the results.” Lotte held up her right hand in front of the camera. The skin on her forearm seemed to have been transformed into a material resembling bluish fiberglass, and it partly reflected back the lights in the room.
Cassie blinked a number of times while staring at the transformed limb on the laptop monitor. It felt like she was watching a science fiction movie.
“My theory is that these alien cells are mutating us,” Lotte said. “They must be rewriting our DNA somehow, changing our physical structure. Whoever built Malihini must have known they could not survive traveling for millions of years with physical bodies, so they must have created microscopic organisms that could survive long periods in hibernation and would infect others coming into contact with them.”
Cassie remembered reading an old classic novel about an invasion from another planet. The Martians used war machines to decimate the Earth, yet were felled by bacteria. The aliens we’ve encountered are doing the opposite, she thought. They’re conquering new worlds by spreading pathogens amongst the local inhabitants.
“I believe they’re remaking us into their own image,” Lotte said. “Like when God made mankind into his. Whatever species is curious enough to launch a spacecraft whenever Malihini visits their star system will end up being infected, thus spreading their seed across interstellar space.”
This is how these aliens survive, Cassie thought. They travel in our bodies like visitors.
Lotte shook her head with a weary sigh. “Yesterday, Toby Merckx hijacked the communications systems, and he started ranting about how he was going to take over the Earth. Professor Chuck and I managed to disable the Rama’s life support systems, so he couldn’t use it to try and get back to our home planet. I know you already locked out the Phoenix, so he couldn’t use that spacecraft either.”
“But the Rama isn’t attached to the Argo anymore,” Cassie whispered.
Lotte made a slight giggle. “You might have guessed that the Rama is no longer where she’s supposed to be. Well, being the only other experienced astronaut aside from you, I will be boarding the capsule and heading out before Toby finds a way to bypass my security locks.”
So where did you go? Cassie thought.
“I’m sure your next question will be ‘where will I be going?’ Well, the answer is nowhere,” Lotte said. “As soon as I detach the Rama, I’ll just set her to drift and open up the hatches. Anyway, that spacecraft doesn’t have the fuel to go anywhere.”
Cassie looked down. Her lips began trembling.
“Don’t feel sad,” Lotte said. “I’ve already given my goodbye to Professor Chuck, and he wished me good luck. When you’ve watched this, I’ll be dead already. The only other thing I’ve wanted to say was that I enjoyed working with you and the others. Vaarwel.”
The video ended. Cassie held onto one of the rungs by the side of the wall as she began to collect her thoughts. Learning about each death felt like a stab through her heart.
Just as she was about to turn around, the loudspeaker near the doorway echoed with static, before a familiar voice was heard. “Such a touching farewell she made for you.”
Toby, Cassie thought. Looking up, she stared into the surveillance camera. He’s still here, watching me.
“Okay, I have a confession to make,” Toby said. “I was the one who placed the Vika candles in the life support machines, and I also tried to push the Argo off course by making subtle adjustments to the autopilot software and slow down our deceleration. But you, Cassie, you became the thorn in my side, until the nanites disabled you for a time.”
Cassie’s eyebrows nearly connected in confusion. Nanites? she thought.
There was a slight chuckling coming from the speakers. “Yes, nanites,” Toby said. “Lotte was wrong. They’re not a virus, these aliens are in fact tiny little machines that go around and rewire our DNA, maybe even introducing new types of nucleic acids into the mix. I ran the simulation.”
Cassie pulled herself back out into the access tube.
There were speakers there too, tuned loud enough for Toby’s voice to be heard all over the place. “Think about it. A virus is mindless, but these nanites have a plan whenever they start to infect you. They don’t reproduce like crazy, because it would kill too many cells and the host would die. Instead, they make just enough copies of themselves until they have the numbers to start mutating our bodies systematically.”
She drifted forward until she made it to the observation deck. Grabbing hold of the pilot’s chair, Cassie reached out and began tapping commands on the console. The MPD drive had been switched off.
The Argo failed to decelerate enough, she thought. That’s why we shot right past Earth orbit.
“I can see what you’re up to,” Toby said. “I’ve managed to disable the engines, and now we’re just going to drift forever, just like Malihini.”
Cassie tried to switch the propulsion back on, but it was clear that the drive had shorted itself out.
“There’s no point in struggling anymore,” Toby said. “Let’s be friends and learn to live inside this new little world of ours.”
Cassie tapped on the console’s reply button. “We still have to talk to Mission Control about this. They have to know what happened.”
“No! I forbid it.” Toby said. “I’m in charge now.”
“What’s wrong with telling them?”
“Because my name will be dragged through the mud if the truth comes out!” Toby said. “I love my son, and I don’t ever want him to live in shame.”
“But it’s nobody’s fault,” Cassie said. “The world will understand.”
“No they won’t! There will always be fools who’ll blame me if they ever get a whiff of what happened. That’s why I locked out all communications,” Toby said. “The secret will stay with us forever.”
“You’ve gone insane,” Cassie said softly.
“You’re wrong!” Toby hissed. “I’m saner now than I ever have been. You may have locked out the Phoenix’s controls, but I’ve also sealed the hatch that leads to the return module. You’re trapped in here with me!”
Cassie seethed with rage. She propelled herself back into the access tube, all the way aft towards the storage area. Taking a crowbar from one of the tool cabinets, she proceeded over to the door leading into Toby’s cabin and tried to slide it open. The door was locked tight and wouldn’t budge so she began striking at it.
Toby’s laughing voice continued to boom across the access tube. “You think you can somehow harm me? I’m more than human now!”
Placing the tip of the rod against the doorsill, Cassie began using all of her strength to pry the lock free.
“Your actions are futile, Cassie,” Toby said haughtily. “Stop clinging to your humanity and let go!”
Cassie groaned with the strain. She heard a loud tearing sound as the lock was finally breached. Sliding the door open with one hand, she held the tool on the ready.
Toby wasn’t there.
Cassie could only stare in mute shock at the glowing, fist-size rock that seemed to be suspended at the center of the room. The object was clearly a piece of one of the menhir-like structures from the cave inside Malihini, and its scintillating golden radiance looked spellbinding to her eyes.
“You’ll never find me,” Toby said. “Because I have become one with this spacecraft. Join me, Cassie.”
It took a bit of will to avert her eyes, but Cassie succeeded in sliding the door back into place. Her thoughts were now in a confused mess, with the bewildering whims of Fate beckoning in every direction. Toby’s mocking laughter echoed within the Argo for about a minute before it was replaced with silence.
Letting go of the rod, Cassie drifted sideways until she came upon an adjacent door. When she placed her hands onto it, the entryway slid open without any resistance. What she saw within the room’s interior made her pause.
Hudson smiled at her while sitting cross-legged along one of the side walls. He was completely hairless, with clumps of his follicles floating around the room like tiny brown tumbleweeds. Malihini’s discoverer looked human enough at first glance, until Cassie could see that his eyes were shining like silvery glitter balls.
“Hello,” he said. “I’m so glad you’ve finally made it.”
Cassie remained at the edge of the doorsill. “What’s happened to you?”
“To me? Something wonderful.”
She remained wary and grabbed the crowbar floating beside her. “What do you mean by that?”
“The others you’ve spoken with have got it all backwards,” Hudson said. “Like them I once believed this was the alien’s way of conquering us, but I’ve since come to a different conclusion.”
Cassie felt the sincerity in his voice, but she remained unsure. “What did you find out?”
“This transformation we’re all having... it’s not a curse... nor is it a disease.”
“Then what is it?”
He grinned, revealing a set of silver colored teeth as if he had dyed his bridgework in mercury. “It is a gift. They came a long way across the stars not to destroy humanity, but to transform us.”
“Into what?”
“A part of themselves.”
“Like parasites?”
“No,” Hudson said. “Can’t you see what happened? After Yevgeny was infected, they tried to give him a new leg. The visitors in our bodies are not out to use us for themselves. They want to help us.”
“What about Hank?”
“He was still in the chrysalis stage,” Hudson said. “Maybe he fought against it, or maybe he was so evil in his core that it didn’t go very well.”
“Pupa stage? As in a butterfly?”
Hudson nodded. “Now you’re getting it. The others killed themselves before the transformation was completed.”
“Even if what you’re saying is true, all this is being done against our will.”
“Sometimes change needs to be forced in order to do some good,” Hudson said. “Think about it. You can transform humanity into something greater. No more death, no more want, no more violence.”
“Me?”
“Yes,” Hudson said. “The code to disable the locked access hatch to the Phoenix is ‘Chase.’ Use it to access the return capsule. At this distance it’ll be a miracle making it back to Earth, but you’re a good enough pilot to pull it off, I think.”
“You want me to go back?”
“Yes, become the harbinger of this gift,” he said. “I am content to stay here until the end comes.”
Cassie turned away. “What you are asking is...” Her voice trailed off.
“The ultimate decision is yours, Cassie. Goodbye.”
She drifted back a little before sliding the door closed once again. Making her way towards the aft section of the Argo took a mere minute. When she got to the closed hatch leading into the Phoenix’s interior, she inputted the passcode, and the lock disengaged.
Swinging the hatch open, Cassie peered into the capsule. She had a choice to make.
THE END
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About the Author
John has varied interests, and his love of everything is reflected in genre-busting novels ranging from real world thrillers all the way to mind blowing science fiction. A consummate researcher, he derives great pleasure and satisfaction when it comes to full spectrum world building and creating offbeat characters based on the real life people he meets in his travels.
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John Triptych, Visitor
