The Engineer
05 Jun 2021Zamen Kensata
Ardua was the pinnacle of human civilization. For its citizens at least. Though shrouded in the veil of history, every member of Arduan society knew that their small sector of space was not the only one that harbored humanity. Loading up a ship massive enough to dwarf several largely populated cities was the stuff of legends on par with the ancient gods and monsters of old. The sheer magnitude of such an endeavor fascinated Calem Asmura since before he could read. Which led to him tinkering with electronic objects before memorizing the alphabet, much to the dismay of his parents.When Ardua began dying, the politicians at the top needed people who could accomplish such a feat with not just one, but several of these massive space behemoths. They needed someone who hadn't fully lost that childlike wonder and amazement with the unknown and the impossible. That is why long before operation A.C.E. was officially set in motion, Calem was recruited personally by Prime Minister Ford to lead a sizable group of tinkerers in designing the Arks. Captain Russell was more than a bit aggravated having his chief engineer snatched up while on active patrol duty, especially with the individual reports of strange alien encounters filtering in from across the solar system from traders and miners.
Calem witnessed the largest evacuation in Arduan history. He was on the front lines of it. Nearly nine hundred million civilians shipped and shuttled to the off world construction rings to be put into a deep sleep aboard the Endeavorant. They had all cut ties with their previous lives and possessions save for a small trinket here and there. With so many people, mishaps were inevitable even though on paper everything had been planned out to the smallest detail. But of course, God being the supernatural jokester he was, the small details were rarely an issue. Instead the most common problems were unauthorized civilians attempting to sneak or bribe their way on board. Knowing what was coming, Calem couldn't blame them. But at the same time he couldn't help them either.
"Please!" A woman shrieked at one of the members of the security detail for shuttle departures. "Just my daughter. She is small. She won't be a burden on supplies."
"Step away ma'am." The security officer ordered with a raised hand. His face was hidden behind the dark visor of his black helmet.
It was Captain Romero's idea to prevent her crew from being targeted by agitators like the Shield of Justice terrorists who targeted the families of Ark crewmen as a form of retribution for the citizens too unlucky or too poor to secure a seat. The helmet muffled the guard's voice with a robotic tinge.
"You can't just leave us here." The woman's pleas became more frantic.
"Selections for the Endeavorant were randomly predetermined." The guard had given the explanation many times, perhaps hundreds and the repetition had wore away any sympathy one person is normally inclined to give another leaving nothing more than a robotic monotone voice laced with stress and disregard.
"But not your selection I'll bet." Another unauthorized hopeful; the woman's husband perhaps, barked with unrestrained malice. "Not your family."
The guard turned, suppressing a shrug, hoping the desperate trio would leave on their own. But Calem knew they wouldn't. Silvia had warned him to stay away from the evacuation site. Won't be anything to see there except tears, anger, and despair; and more tears, she had said. But that is exactly why Calem decided to ignore the advise. He needed to see the people they would be leaving behind. He needed to feel the guilt and the tightness from his conscience smothering his heart like a closed fist. He needed to take their pain with him. Because while the guards would remember the faces of those that were doomed in their nightmares, Calem would remember those left behind during his prayers.
Witnessing family after desperate family plead to be let aboard one of the shuttles always made him think of Taki. Especially since hearing the venomous accusation of special treatment from the defeated father, cradling his own weeping wife and daughter in his arms. He was not wrong. Not about the security officer and not about Calem either. Taki was not originally selected to crew the Endeavorant but that issue was quickly rectified when Calem was recruited to design the Ark. He would not leave without her. She was one of the first officers to be selected personally by Captain Romero. Silvia had done it before Calem asked. She had done it in hopes that it would ease the burden of guilt she knew Calem would feel, knowing the seat was being taken from a citizen that may have previously been informed of their selection. Instead they would receive a new message, stating their selection was an error from the randomizer.
Calem had crewed with Silvia for over a decade aboard the Catalyst; a near relic from the civil war. Before that they were close friends during their time at the academy and before that classmates during college. We go way back, Calem, Silvia had said every time before she gave of herself to make his life better. Even when they were kids during grade school. One year after fending off some bullies with a metal pipe and it had become her favorite phrase when she knew it mattered. It's how she got the scar. When it was his turn to finally return the favor after she disobeyed their captain aboard the Catalyst he could only manage to keep her from receiving prison time by persuading their commander to lower the punishment to a dishonorable discharge. It was Prime Minister Ford who had her reinstated and selected to command the Endeavorant just before the trial. Now here she was, still trying to look after him.
But she couldn't guard him this time. Taki would survive the death of Ardua solely because Calem would not leave the planet without her. That guilt of being the reason someone lost their seat was his to bare alone. Taki thought she was given special treatment specifically because of her bridge officer status, which was partially true but she would have remained on the Advent had it not been for Calem. They didn't have children yet so there was at least the solace that a child wouldn't be stripped from salvation due to familial tribalism.
Over half a year later; it was the memory of that tribalism that overwhelmed Calem's thoughts and emotions when witnessing his wife screaming and gurgling through a horrific black tar like substance on the floor of the communal restroom area nearest to their quarters aboard the Endeavorant.
"Taki?" Calem's voice faded with all the air in his lungs.
The sting of water pooling behind his eyes could not force them closed. Time ceased to exist. Her eyes were all he could see through the black goo. They were her last and only form of communicating with him. He could see the terror and sorrow. He could see the apology for leaving him alone. He could see her very last I love you all through her eyes before he felt a pair of hands tighten around his arm and yank him back.
"Asmura!" Silvia's voice boomed off the surrounding metal walls.
Calem stumbled back with the captain into one of the walls and when his body hit the floor against the metal barrier he remained there, no longer able to see his wife. Seconds later the goo splattered onto the restroom door and hall. His mind couldn't process the grim realization that what was left of his wife was oozing down the walls.
"You think God will forgive us, Calem?" Taki asked as she rested her head on his chest.
The engineer's mind had taken him back to just a month before the Endeavorant was ready to begin receiving colonists. He sat on a plush grey couch in a small apartment staring at an old holo-vid. Taki had just decided to snuggle up beside him after washing a few dishes.
"For what?" Calem wondered.
"For receiving special treatment because of our jobs. We're guaranteed a spot on the Ark because of our positions." Taki said, giving Calem's arm a light squeeze.
"Why should you need forgiveness for pursuing a career?" A sigh escaped the engineer. She felt guilty because of her job position. If she knew what Silvia had done, she may have refused to leave. "None of us knew we would be evacuating the planet when we joined the navy."
"I know." Taki paused for a brief moment. "But still, our names weren't selected randomly. That means two people were cheated out of a spot on the ship."
"Cheated?" Calem asked defensively. "You don't think that's a bit extreme?"
"I'm not saying we personally removed anyone from the list." Taki admitted. "But maybe it would have been more fair if the crew was randomly selected amongst the entire ADF. At least that way-"
"We can't leave the success of this mission up to chance." Calem interrupted with feigned reassurance while hiding the tinge of guilt he felt at the fact that at least one person was removed from the list in order for his wife to receive a spot. "We were selected because there was no one better for our positions." He half lied. Hell, maybe a full lie. Who knew if there was some other engineer who could have done his job better and faster. Maybe Ford selecting him was another one of Silvia's demands.
"Doesn't make it any easier to get over." Taki sighed.
"That's because you're a good person." Calem said with smile and lightly caressed Taki's shoulder.
"Well I would hope so, marrying the preacher's son and all." Taki giggled.
Her laughter made the struggles of life more bearable and in his mind numbing shock, it was the only thing he attempted to latch on to, never wanting to leave. He never wanted to go back to reality.
"Calem." Another voice that sounded like Silvia echoed off in the distance. "Calem." It grew louder and louder. "Calem!"
A hard stinging slap across the cheek accompanied the captain's voice as control over Calem's consciousness returned to him. He gasped and his head snapped to the left and right. His eyes had remained open for however long his mind had left him and they still did not close. His heart pleaded with God, begging that none of it was real; that his wife hadn't just exploded in front of him. But it was all too real and he soon found himself pulled by the arm again, this time to his feet.
A small security detail had accompanied Calem and the captain to the living area. One of them was slowly peering into the restroom as Silvia steadied the distraught engineer against the wall. The guard leaned forward, sidearm in hand then almost immediately recoiled at what he saw, bringing his forearm up to cover his nose.
"What the...fuck?" The guard managed before shock and horror overtook his expression of disgust.
Over ten tendrils of the dark substance shot up from the black puddle on the restroom floor and latched on to the officer like a starved squid around a larger fish. A scream of terror erupted from the crewman along with several instinctive shots from his sidearm. The plasma bolts proved useless and only absorbed into the goo as it enveloped the doomed sailor.
"Back away! Everyone get the fuck back." Silvia shrieked. "Now!"
The civilians who had gathered in the area had no issue with following the order as panic overtook a fast dispersing crowd. Strength still hadn't returned to Calem's legs as he stood stiff, unable to remove his eyes from the black death that was devouring his fellow crewman.
This is how she died. His mind repeated the thought with every cry of pain, every snapping bone, every splatter of blood from the dying man. This is what his small, kind hearted Taki went through. His body shook from Silvia trying to bring him back to reality but reality was the last place he wanted to be.
"Calem, we have to move." She shouted directly in his face.
Why? To escape? To survive? Why bother? She was gone. He wasn't going to leave Ardua without her so why would he leave her now?
"Calem!" Silvia screeched with another slap to the engineer's face.
He hadn't heard that much passion in her voice since before they joined the ADF. Another memory tried to overtake his vision but it was replaced with a view of raw emotion on Silvia's face. A rare view even older than the fervor in her voice. Her hands clasped gently onto Calem's light stubble covered cheeks.
"Little bro, we have to move." Silvia's eyes added the pleas her rank and new responsibilities for the millions aboard the Ark would not allow.
Calem knew that she knew he wanted nothing more than to die right then and there but then she would have to die with him because he knew she wouldn't leave him and then the best chance any of the crew had of surviving this new disaster would be greatly diminished. He swallowed and the tears began to flow but he managed to regain enough of his composure to use his legs. They ran with the fleeing civilians as the goo grew larger from consuming the fallen security officer.
"This is Romero." Silvia huffed into a communication device on her right wrist. "I want every available officer up and armed now. Evacuate civilian sector one."
"The entire section?" A voice shot back in shock.
"Did I fucking stutter? I don't want questions right now, Brecker." Silvia barked with a scowl at the device. "Questions waste time and right now every second counts. We have a hostile entity on board, possibly bug related, anamorphous in nature." She glanced back at another scream, this one different from the slain security officer. "Two confirmed casualties, KIA, possible third. Subject appeared resistant to conventional weaponry so bring the big guns. Coordinate with civilian population leaders to make room for an influx of bodies into CS-2 and lock down every entrance. Seal them off."
"Roger." Brecker's voice cracked with fear and uncertainty.
"Romero out." Silvia swiveled her tense glare in every direction as she led Calem and the small group of civilians and surviving security towards the second civilian sector.
Calem would have struggled to keep up had it not been for her iron grip on his wrist.
"What was that thing?" A woman in the group screeched.
"Isn't it obvious?" Another civvy shrieked. "It was one of those aliens. They're going to kill us!"
"We're trapped on this ship in the middle of space!" A panicked man bellowed.
"Keep it together, people." Silvia commanded, knowing the order was most likely useless.
"Keep it together? We're all going to die!" Another civilian from the group echoed the reigning sentiment.
"What if there are more of them?" One of the security officers voiced their fears.
As if in answer, more cries of death and terror began echoing around the group in all directions until a horrid symphony of fatal oblivion surrounded the wayward survivors. Before, when his wife was dying, Calem could not focus. His senses had left him. But now as he was pulled further and further away from the end of his life as he once knew it, a sound he couldn't previously hear began to bombard his ears from every direction and shock a memory to the forefront of his mind. It was a terrible, skittering sound the creature made as it killed Taki and the security officer in front of the restroom. Like a thousand agitated beehives at first followed by a bag of bonemeal being ferociously shook in a sealed metal container. The tendrils lashed out with an oily wet rumble, thumping against every surface while still maintaining a focused trajectory towards live flesh. One creature alone sounded as if it were a thousand and the morbid concert of vibrations bombarding the fleeing crew of humans made it impossible to guess just how many had risen from the dark. Only the hundreds of screams from dying colonists gave them any clarity of how damned their situation was.
Somehow, the group managed to reach the large entrance door that led to CS-2 along with a massive gathering of civilians frantically shoving one another to get through the large ten foot wide metal door that led into the connecting hallway. They smashed into the frenzied mob that was steadily but slowly shrinking with each colonist that made it inside.
"Hurry up!"
"Move!"
"Get the fuck out of the way!"
"Daddy!?"
"Sheri? Sheri where are you!?"
"Calem!" Silvia's voice cut through the screaming civilians.
The engineer met the captain's eyes. Her cold, nonchalant demeanor had returned. Somehow she had put her emotions back in check.
"Come on." She pulled him head on into the crowd.
Trying to wrangle the cluster of terrified colonists was pointless so diving in was their best bet. Moments later a bloodcurdling scream seemingly froze the entire gathering of survivors. Almost in unison, every human head turned and took in the sight of an at first unidentifiable object soaring from the roof of one of the cramped metal complexes used to house the civilians. The speed at which it launched itself through the air was near blinding and when it finally came down closer towards the crowd more shrieks of terror erupted from the fleeing civilians.
The object was a man. His clothes were torn and his veins pulsated with the black substance that had bonded to his body. Yet instead of consuming the unfortunate traveler, it had seemingly taken control of his motor functions. As he landed, he clung to the back of a fleeing, uninfected man, grabbing his shoulders and biting down into the side of his neck, ripping into his exposed flesh. The ooze seeped out from between the snarling monstrosity's teeth and into his unfortunate captive's open wound. Within seconds, terrified screams morphed into frenzied growls as the bite victim's body hit the floor in convulsion only to rise with the same murderous glare as his former attacker.
"Holy fucking shit!" One of the crowd yelled before chaos overtook the already perilous situation.
All sense of humanity left the herd of humans as many were trampled over and killed beneath the feet of people too scared to process any thoughts beyond escape. One by one the colonists fell then by two then by three. Calem lost track of the group that escaped the communal area near his quarters. Their frightened faces melded with the sea of frightened faces. Madness engulfed the mob and yet somehow he moved forward. His arms and shoulders and even his face smashed and bounced against one body after the next and yet Silvia's grip never loosened. Even when he felt his knees buckle from the claustrophobic smothering of humans surrounding him, every time he felt himself falling a sharp tug from Silvia would set him upright. She had interlocked her arm with his and was fiercely shoving a path forward.
"Seal the door!" The captain's voice boomed over the chorus of death and terror from the crowd.
Not everyone had made it through but that was of little consequence to those who had. Silvia's order invigorated those who had cleared the open pathway. It gave them a delusional sense of permission to shut the path to survival on those still clawing and crying to escape. The thick metal barrier lowered with a mechanical groan, crushing dozens with a bloodcurdling, bone crunching slam.
"It's not gonna hold them." One of the surviving security officers blurted while backing away from the door.
Cries of death pierced through the thick metal above the desperate and ferocious bangs against the door accompanied by the inhumane snarls and squeals of the infected. From the sound of it the creatures were throwing their entire bodies against the door.
"It'll fucking hold." Silvia growled. "Torches!" She ordered.
Consternation clouded the minds of the remaining officers, broken only by the continued slamming against the door. The bodies might not be able to tear through the metal but for those who had seen the ooze in its pure form knew that the smallest crevice could prove their escape meaningless. Two mechanics ran up to the door and knelt down, blasting the edges with concentrated flame.
Calem sat roughly ten feet from the door breathing heavily and drenched in sweat. His hand had instinctively closed around the small silver crucifix clasped around his neck. A relic of an ancient religion few still followed amongst the Arduan citizenry. He felt Silvia's eyes on him and wondered if she would expect him to regain his composure. Perhaps put his brilliant mind to work like he had often done aboard the Catalyst when things went wrong. It came naturally back then because there was no one to worry about except for his fellow officers and crewmen. Back then everyone knew where they should be and what they should do and realized the risks they were taking. Things would go wrong, people would die, and everyone would pull together. Sacrifices were made when needed. It was painful but it was their duty. It should have been the same aboard the Ark but how could it? How could one accept that the person next to them might fall when that person was their family? Their wife?
Taki...
She was the reason; the only reason. But in an instant she was gone and now...
"Calem." Silvia's hand accompanied her words, resting on his shoulder.
Slowly, the engineer raised his head so his eyes could meet hers. Her face still wore no expression, but he had long since learned to read the subtleties in her eyes; a slight tightness in her cheeks. She already had a course of action.
"We're going to have to detach the med-pods." The captain's voice was low but not without certainty.
"The..." Calem let his tortured thoughts process what she was suggesting.
The bulk of the colonists aboard the Ark were still asleep; oblivious to the chaos that surrounded them and the death that would surely come for them. Silvia wanted to detach the rear sector of the Ark. But how? The pod sector was in the opposite direction back through the hell they had just escaped. A spacewalk maybe? If the rear section was detached the engines could still be controlled from an emergency operations station but with no bridge they would be flying blind. The top brass didn't even want to entertain the idea of making the sections detachable in the first place but Calem was adamant about it. The design was simple enough but time was never on his side. He had only managed to install the engine controls before preparations for the launch had begun. With no navigational systems they would need ships to guide its direction if they managed to split the Ark. Ships and constant communication. But who knows if the docking bays hadn't suffered the same fate as CS-1? Who knows if they would even survive long enough to enact the insane plan?
"You're the only one who can do it." Silvia declared. "No one else took the time to learn the process. You're going to have to direct a team to get it done."
"Most of my team was in there." Calem said while pointing at the door.
"You'll have to improvise." Silvia concluded, giving his shoulder a light squeeze. "You built this thing. You can show people how to take it apart."
"These things have been hunting us, Silvia." Calem didn't think she needed reminding but said it anyway. "The pods would be their main target."
"We won't know that until we get there." The captain countered, rising to her feet. "I don't know if you have any faith left."
Calem's eyes lowered to the floor at that and his mind nearly relapsed back to the image of his dead wife. He didn't think his hand could grip the cross any tighter, but it did, numbingly.
"But faith was never a consequence of our situation." Silvia affirmed. "We're soldiers. Our main priority is the survival of the people in those pods. No matter how insane we have to become to get that job done, getting that job done is all that matters."
An hour ago, Calem would have disagreed. And he knew Silvia knew that too. But now he had nothing to lose, only people to save. And if they couldn't save them then they would die trying. The simplicity of it generated a subtle blanket of warmth over his chest. In an instant everything Calem had planned for the future vanished from relevancy. Now there was nothing more to do except rise and move forward until the evil that had invaded their home took him.
Or was defeated.