LINKS
____________
The Christa Affair
Chapter Six
The remaining four ate in silence. The soothing sounds of a Zornadan symphony came softly from the sonic projectors; outside, Ultazari shone brightly from a cloudless deep-blue sky. Finished before the others, Rang stood at the viewport looking toward the deserted campsite five miles to the south. The four domes reflected the afternoon sunlight, standing out brilliantly against the dark green of the plant life around them.
Rang suddenly found himself possessed with an overwhelming desire to go to the campsite. He was overtaken with restlessness; he wanted to go outside. It was too late in the watch to sleep. He returned to the table and idly watched the game of three-dimensional chess the females were engaged in. Mowii was playing Lito and Suu simultaneously in two separate games -- winning both as usual.
Shortly he found himself back at the viewport, again staring at the glistening domes. He picked up the high-power glasses and began to scan the camp area. By now his restlessness had become apparent, and Mowii was watching him curiously. "What's the matter, Rang?" she asked.
For an instant, Rang thought he saw a shadowy figure among the domes, then it was gone; he turned from the window in response to his bondmate's question. "I don't know, Mowii. I'm restless... I want to go outside and walk in the sunshine."
"I think I'll take a short nap, soon as I beat these two. Want to join me? Maybe a back rub will get the ants out."
"Go ahead, I'll be along shortly." Rang leaned over and kissed her softly, then turned and walked from the control room.
Rang continued aft along the passageway. He considered stopping at the infirmary for a Calmtab, but discarded the idea -- they made him groggy. End-of-watch was just six hours away, and he would have to return to duty.
He hoped they could change the watch schedule once the video link was installed; this watch-and-watch was murder. Better yet, maybe the Admiral would relieve them of their post and send in the real military. "To hell with the Exalted High Lord's daughter," he muttered uncharitably, "and damn those grasshoppers anyway!" The restlessness grew more intense.
He stopped at the ordnance locker, and checked over the \Klondike's\ cache of light weapons. In addition to the light-weight needleguns they'd all been wearing since planetfall, there were eight standard military-issue Carlson 33-A energy pistols, four GTE/Uzi assault rifles with high-power scopes, and one General Energy model 267 lasertorch.
Originally designed as a cutting and welding tool, the GE-267 could cut thru ship's hullplate as though it were hot butter. This one was specially modified for combat, and could beam a pencil-thin shaft of energy with deadly accuracy. The power unit was worn as a backpack, and was capable of sustaining continuous maximum output for seven and a half minutes -- though the projector unit would melt down long before that, unless it was fired in short bursts. The projector was convertible from hand-held, for cutting and close combat, to shoulder-fired for long range destruction; the shoulder-fired version sported a powerful scope, rigged for night vision.
In the hold of the \Klondike\ was a Mitsubishi "howitzer". A rail-gun of sorts, it was mounted on its own lift-disk for portability, and could hurl an explosive projectile or a ball of pure energy more than twenty-five miles.
Rang carefully examined each weapon in the locker, and returned it to its place of stowage; each was in perfect working order, containing a full charge. He removed the little needlegun from the holster on his right hip, and exchanged its tiny powerpack for a fresh one, placing the removed one into the recycler. He returned the pistol to his holster, and exchanged the three spare power units in his utility belt for fresh ones. Without really knowing why, he picked up one of the Uzi assault rifles and slung it over his shoulder as he headed aft toward the hold to check out the howitzer.
A sense of urgency possessed him as he approached the hold where the howitzer was kept, and he continued on past to the stern airlock. Rang knew he shouldn't go outside -- it was a violation of both correct procedure and good common sense -- but he knew just as surely that he had to. He had to go to the campsite. And he didn't know why. Just as surely, he knew he had to do it alone and without the others' knowledge... They'd try to stop him.
The inner door of the lock stood open. There was no reason to close it; the interior of the ship was at planet-normal pressure. Rang carefully jammed the sensor unit on the outer door before pressing the contact that caused it to slide noiselessly back along its track. No indicator showed in the control room as he stepped into the drop-field, keying the door closed behind him.
The alarms on the ship's surface scanners were keyed to the biorhythm patterns of the eight crew-members, and programmed to ignore their movements. He hoped no one was watching the screens at the moment; the alarms would ignore him, but there was no way to hide from the video sensors if anyone back in the control room was watching. With a little luck, they'd still be playing chess. Rang mounted an airsled and pointed its nose toward the deserted campsite.
The sled gained speed rapidly as the coils of the flux-powered generator bit deeply into the magnetic field of the planet, turning its energy into power for the gravity polarizer, lifting and driving the sled forward. Two hundred fifty miles per hour, and the wind whistled thru the tubular frame of the little four-seater -- only the invisible force-field generated by the sled's powerplant protected him. The little craft covered the five miles in just over one minute.
Rang slowed the sled to a crawl, and circled the domes twice, holding the machine just above the ground. The second time around, he eased between the domes and let the vehicle settle to the surface on the south side, hidden from view of the \Klondike\. He knew he was behaving irrationally, but this had to be done.
"\What\ has to be done?" Rang wondered as he dismounted and unslung the Uzi. For a moment he crouched beside the sled, trying to decide his next move; he felt foolish deceiving the others this way -- they were going to be furious when they found out. Holding the Uzi at ready, he headed for the nearest dome. As he entered the structure, it seemed to Rang that he felt an eerie presence. He crouched, swiftly scanning the room -- it was as empty as before.
Rang stood slowly erect and slung the Uzi over his left shoulder, leaving his right arm free should a quick draw of the needlegun become necessary. The hair on the back of his neck prickled, and despite the empty appearance of the room he knew he was being watched.
Suddenly, by the rear wall of the dome, something shimmered into being. Rang started to reach for his holstered sidearm, found that his hand wouldn't move. The shimmering form before him slowly materialized... Rang found himself staring at a seven-foot tall "grasshopper," standing upright.
Though he had never before seen one except in pictures, Rang recognized the creature as Estarani -- a member of the vicious non-humanoid inhabitants of Estara-Six. Here? How? They didn't have space travel! Rang's thoughts were a bit incoherent, and his gun hand still refused to work.
The Estarani slowly raised its number one right tendril; it was holding an energy projector. Rang tried to run, to throw himself aside and escape the bolt of deadly energy; his body was frozen in position. He could only wait for searing death to leap forth from the weapon held in the creature's grasp.
With slow exaggerated motion, the Estarani reversed the weapon, holding it butt-first toward Rang, then laid it on the floor. The alien spoke -- a series of clicking sounds that seemed to be an attempt at System English, the dominate language of people of Terran extraction. Having been a practicing Advocate of Galactic Law before joining Jashi in the \Klondike\ venture, Rang was skilled in all the major tongues of the galaxy, but he found the staccato utterances of the creature completely unintelligible.
The Estarani switched to Federation Basic. This time Rang spotted the phrase for non-violence... The negative symbol, followed by the phrase for fear... Then the question symbol before something that seemed to be "psyche" or "head". Rang couldn't tell for sure which.
Although he still couldn't move any part of his body, Rang found that he could talk and move his head. He spoke slowly and distinctly in Federation Basic, "? You will not harm me?"
The alien spoke the negative.
Rang: "! I do not understand the other."
The alien repeated the unintelligible phrase from before.
"! I still do not understand... ? Will you release me?"
The question symbol, followed by the phrase for intimate violence. "! No," said Rang. "! I will not harm you." Suddenly released from his invisible bonds, Rang sank to his knees.
The Estarani walked toward the kneeling Human. It took all the willpower Rang could muster not to reach for his needlegun; his every instinct cried out for him to draw and kill the repulsive creature. The alien stopped and looked down at the Human, then gestured for Rang to stand. It spoke again: The negative, followed by the phrase for fear... Then the phrase for touch.
Cringing at the thought, Rang said, "? You want to touch me?"
The affirmative symbol, followed by the phrase for urgent need.
Summoning every ounce of self-control, Rang stood and answered in the affirmative.
The creature reached out slowly with its number three right tendril and touched Rang lightly on the forehead. To his surprise, the touch wasn't at all unpleasant; Rang felt a relaxing warmth slowly creep thru his body. He felt calm and at peace... The fear was gone.
Suddenly something was inside his head, probing at the inner depths of his mind. Something horrible inside his head... Growing... Filling his brain... Stretching it painfully until Rang thought his head was going to explode.
He tried to speak -- tried to ask the creature to stop -- found he couldn't. He tried to reach for his needlegun; tried to move away from the painful touch. He was falling. Falling into a black pit, enveloped by darkness. Falling... Falling... Falling as his head was being torn apart from within. As the blackness closed in upon him, Rang knew he would fall forever.
CHAPTER SEVEN
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