Chapter One
“Team leader to Odyssey…”
More words followed except they were garbled and broken, the tone unnerving. In the background the bone-chilling sounds of terrified screams and photon blasters discharging were unmistakable. The next instant, a panic-stricken message came across with only three words decipherable: “Attack… huge… aliens!”
After that, the transmission went dead.
Fear knotted in the pit of Maggie’s stomach as she, and every woman on the bridge, held her breath while listening for more. The silence was deafening. While waiting the span of an excruciatingly long minute, she prayed for another word, or the slightest noise to indicate all was well. As the seconds dragged by, nothing more came.
Spinning her command chair around, she surged to her feet and ran up the few steps leading to the upper deck and the communications console. “Get them back, dammit,” Maggie demanded, although she knew if it were possible, the highly skilled officer manning the controls would have done so by now.
“I’m trying, ma’am,” Britta replied, her hands flying over the touch screens and keypads. Entering numbers and tweaking slide bars, she tried and retried every channel and frequency to get a signal. All that came through the ultra-sensitive, digitally enhanced speakers was white noise.
Whirling to face the enormous viewing screen at the front of the bridge, she snapped her next order, “Bring up video.”
A distorted aerial image of the landing team’s pre-selected research area appeared on the screen. Maggie squinted while the picture blurred and digitalized as the autofocus engaged.
“Enhance!” barked the unnerved captain.
“I’m at 100k Opti-res enhancement now,” Teagan, her senior navigator replied. “That’s the best image I’ve got.”
A burst of light flashed in the lower right corner of the screen; the indistinct image flickered several times, and then, like the audio transmission, ended abruptly. The display reverted to a blue screen, blank except for the standby indicator slowly blinking in the corner as the computer searched for a signal. A few seconds passed before a wide view of the small planet they were orbiting appeared.
Maggie’s troubled gaze sliced to Teagan. “Was that an explosion?”
“It’s possible, ma’am,” the young lieutenant answered, her voice hushed in the stillness of the room as everyone sat frozen in stunned disbelief by the sudden turn of events. “Or it could have been artifact from the solar flares.”
“Can you restore the feed?”
She shook her head. “The computer, unable to read the incoming signal, automatically defaults to the best discernible image. I’ve set it to continuous search mode, but for now, this is all we have. I’m sorry, ma’am.”
Nala, her chief weapons officer, cut in. “We’re unable to help them until contact is restored. Without visual confirmation of the threat or verbal verification of the coordinates, we’d be shooting blind.”
“So they’re on their own,” Maggie whispered, her eyes fixed on the innocuous-looking blue-green orb in the middle of the black, star-dotted screen. What had been a beacon of hope only hours before had become a harbinger of despair and a veritable death trap. At least that was how it seemed from their vantage point, without knowing what was truly going on two hundred and fifty miles below them on the planet’s surface.
“God help them,” one of her crew uttered, others quietly adding their own prayers.
***
From the captain’s chair in the center of the room, Magda Vohlmer—named after her late grandmother, Maggie to most, and Mags to her very dear friends, which numbered few—had a three-hundred-sixty-degree view of the multi-level bridge. The usual activity went on around her, mostly unnoticed, as she gazed fixedly at the harmless-looking planet. Only a few hours before, it represented hope for their future, now that optimism had turned into unease, dread, and helpless frustration.
This last one was the hardest for Maggie; these were her people; her responsibility. If only they could get monitoring systems back online, or safely launch reconnaissance drones, or do something, anything, besides sit on their asses, watching, and waiting.
“Anything, Britta?” she asked as she had every few minutes since the last broken transmission.
“Nothing, ma’am, still scanning.”
And she would continue to until she reestablished communication with their missing research team, or ordered to stop.
Four hours had passed, and in that time, not a blip or a flash.
On high alert, since the distress call came in, the ship and her crew were prepared for aggression from the unknown enemy below, at the same time continually scanning for signs of the research team and trying to reestablish communication. As the minutes ticked by and there was still no word, the crew became more and more on edge.
Hopeful the nearly nonstop solar flares, which they suspected were causing the distortions, would die down at sunset, they were further frustrated when only one of the twin suns dipped behind the planet. The larger of the two, apparently having a much broader orbital path, was still in plain view, playing havoc with their equipment. This meant video was patchy at best when they had it, and audio was nonexistent.
Icy shivers of fear ran down the harried captain’s spine every time she thought of the haunting call from her missing team. It played in an awful, continuous loop in her head accompanied by mental pictures of a host of horrific scenarios that might now be taking place. Although the well-trained crew was armed with the most advanced weapons available, their attackers were an unknown entity. Except for being “huge,” Maggie had no idea what other alien threats they were facing.
For the hundredth time, she regretted not sending drones in first, but the preliminary scans had revealed only positive indicators. The atmosphere was conducive to supporting human life, the temperatures were in the tropical-range, and there was evidence of abundant water supplies and dense vegetation, which gave them hope at long last they had found what they were searching for. Swept up in the excitement, she’d become as overanxious as the crew and ordered a science team to land and collect samples. As captain, that premature decision and the fate of her people rested on her.
The rational part of her brain reminded her every crew member on the Odyssey knew the score when they signed onto the mission three years ago. The risk in space exploration was inherent; anything that could go wrong often did. But that didn’t ease the internal turmoil that left her struggling with regret, what-ifs, and second-guesses, and the overwhelming guilt that she might have been responsible for the untimely deaths of twelve women. As she made every effort to keep her emotions contained and hidden from her crew, she wrapped herself in the icy cloak of concentration she was known for.
This level of focus led people to call her aloof, or distant. And since she was a stickler for schedules, goals, and the mission—always the mission—her crew often called her a hard-ass, though usually in whispers, not to her face.
At twenty-eight, Maggie was the youngest captain, male or female, to command a ship in the history of the United States Interstellar Forces. She hadn’t accomplished this goal while coasting along, or by not demanding the most of herself and those around her. True, the Odyssey was one of the few deep exploration vessels in the fleet, the others were warships, short flight shuttles, and maintenance craft, but being selected to head the mission was still an honor and came with grave responsibility. She didn’t have the luxury of downtime or worry-free sleep. There were three hundred lives on board, and she didn’t intend to lose a single one under her command. She spent almost every spare moment plotting, planning, checking, and rechecking, and getting input from her officers. In spite of it all, the decisions, with their successes as well as their failures, fell to her. And the weight of that burden was heavy upon her shoulders right now.
It didn’t end with the Odyssey, either. The people on Earth were depending upon them to succeed. Overpopulation and misuse of the world’s resources had made the long-held warnings about climate change, and its ramifications come true, leaving humanity on the brink of catastrophe.
At the time of their departure, weather disasters: tsunamis, floods, and mudslides were already frequent and more devastating than ever before. It had gotten so bad a new level of hurricane—category 6—had been added. Earthquakes had become a daily event, and more volcanoes were active than at any time in their history. On top of these incredibly destructive forces of nature, social order was in chaos. Leaders worldwide couldn’t agree on how to find new sources of energy, shore up dwindling food supplies, and protect the quickly diminishing sources of fresh water.
Some countries were becoming more withdrawn from the global community, worried solely about protecting their own. To many, including Maggie, this was a reactionary and inappropriate response to the crisis. Fortunately, several of the advanced nations had banded together to look at solutions: this included looking beyond the boundaries of Earth, and seeking a viable new planet to replace their dying world.
This progressive approach wasn’t without conflict, either. Who, where, and how was always a matter of contention. The only thing everyone could agree on was it needed to happen quickly, which in terms of space travel was an ambiguous term.
Nearly three years after the Odyssey left Earth, they were no closer to fulfilling their mission than on day one, and they were running out of time. Deep space exploration wasn’t an endless assignment. It took its toll on vital resources, including food stores and fuel cells for their ship and their weapons, not to mention the most critical of all resources, the people. For that reason alone, the mission was time-limited.
Knowing they would soon be called home and with nothing to show for it except a few very unsatisfactory planets and asteroids as options, they’d come across SperoMP13, the most promising prospect to date.
The use of drones would have been the safest option, but it would also have taken much longer, and she had eager scientists chomping at the bit to get started. Maggie had jumped the gun, plain and simple, erring on the side of haste and enthusiasm, rather than caution, which wasn’t like her. And she was beating herself up for it.
“Twelve lives for the sake of saving time,” she whispered. Then and there, she vowed never to put her crew or their mission at risk by being impetuous again—ever.
“Captain, I’m picking up thermal readings near the targeted landing site.”
Teagan’s report snapped her instantly out of her musings.
“Our people?” she asked.
“No, these readings are thirty times higher, as if from a launch, and I’m getting some video.”
As she reported this, there was an audible intake of breath from the dozens of women on the bridge, and all heads swung to the viewing screen.
“There is also a heat trail, ma’am.” After a moment, Teagan twisted halfway in her chair to look her way, and added with a grin, “It’s got to be the shuttle.”
Cheers erupted at the news, but Maggie wouldn’t celebrate until they had positive confirmation and she counted heads and ensured every one of her charges was safe.
“Britta, see if you can contact them? Determine how many are on board and find out if we need a medical team on standby.”
“Odyssey to Shuttle 1, come in.” Pausing, she waited for a response then flipped through several more channels, repeating her message exhaustively before shaking her head. “There is still interference.”
“Damn,” Maggie muttered softly. “I’m going to the landing bay. Have a medical team and a security detail meet me there.”
Minutes later, she stood at the interior doors, peering through three panes of high-intensity, silica-fused protective glass. Her eyes were fixed on the small craft as it approached the open bay. There were no visible signs of damage, and the small craft seemed to be functioning properly as it made a slight course correction and slowed for landing. Although her relief at seeing the intact vehicle was immense, she worried about the state of the crew after still having no contact with them.
“Ma’am.” A voice at her shoulder interrupted her thoughts. She turned to see Janie, the security sergeant who was in charge in the chief’s absence.
“We’ve had no communication with them.”
Maggie waited for her to continue. “And,” she finally prompted.
“We don’t know what happened down there.”
“This is true and why we have medics on standby.”
“I don’t mean that.”
“What do you mean, Janie?” she urged, with an edge of impatience. “Spit it out.”
“What if our people aren’t inside? Or, perhaps the attackers have them under their control in order to board us and take over the ship.”
It was a valid concern. She glanced down the hall behind the sergeant to see a dozen fully armed guards at the ready, and didn’t hesitate, giving the nod to proceed.
The security team rushed forward, flanking each side of the doors, ready to go in first.
Advancing to the designated landing zone, the retractable legs on the shuttle extended and locked in place. As it set down, it rocked suddenly, landing more roughly than expected, with a loud thud that reverberated through the doors and into the hallway. The ship lurched sharply as a result, knocking several women off-balance including the one who went careening into her.
“Sorry, Captain,” she murmured, but Maggie barely noticed, as the outer hull doors slid shut. Her concern was focused on who or what was inside the shuttle, and now on board her ship. Eryn Lockwood, their security chief, was also a very competent pilot and would have been the one at the controls. The rocky touchdown wasn’t her usual style, which meant something was terribly wrong. Either the shuttle had sustained damage, or worse, the crew inside had.
Shooting a troubled glance Janie’s way, they shared a tense few moments as they waited for the bay to pressurize. She wanted to charge in but had to hold the standard thirty seconds for the all clear or risk being sucked out into space along with everything and everyone in the vicinity. Each tick of the clock seemed like an eternity.
At last, the green light flashed, and with a hiss, the doors slid open. Despite the dozen armed guards on either side of her, Maggie was the first to rush in, though she let them surround the shuttle exit ramp, ready for any surprises.
It took several more long, excruciating minutes before the shuttle doors released and the ramp lowered. When it did, the sound of weapons snapping into place was deafening. The cold, harsh noise was replaced by sighs of relief as Rebecca moved into the opening, appearing uninjured despite her ripped and dirt-covered flight suit.
“Thank God, you’re safe,” Maggie cried as she moved to the foot of the ramp. Her concern mounted as she watched her first officer limp forward. “You’re hurt.”
“It’s nothing,” Rebecca replied, waving off her alarm. “I tweaked an ankle while running.”
“What the hell happened down there?”
“Aliens, dozens of them by our guess, attacked while we were at the lake. They were huge, Mags,” she uttered, with lingering fear written on her pale face. This made Maggie appreciate the gravity of the situation below. She’d seen her steel-nerved friend remain unflappable in countless battles, and life or death situations. Whatever had happened, left her rattled.
Rebecca turned back and motioned to someone inside. Two other crew members moved forward, carrying a third who was injured, her face contorted in pain.
“Medic!” Maggie called, gesturing to the technicians on standby in the corridor. They pushed forward with their equipment, two weaving a stretcher through the others surrounding the shuttle doors.
A cry of pain halted any conversation as the young guard, who was writhing in agony, was lifted onto the gurney. It was then Maggie saw the makeshift splint immobilizing her lower leg and the hastily tied dressing saturated with blood. As the med-techs cut it away to see what they were dealing with, Maggie caught a glimpse of a deep gash and a jagged, protruding bone.
“My God, Tessa!”
The wounded young woman hissed in pain, and her face leached of color when the medical team elevated her leg and secured her for transport to med-bay. While they worked on her, she raised anguished eyes to her captain.
“The creatures, they were unbelievably strong, and there were so many of them. We ran, but they were too quick.” Her voice trailed off as she shook her head and swallowed. “When we tried to defend ourselves, we found ourselves outgunned, too.” She managed the last bit between groans, her voice reedy thin from pain and undoubtedly the blood loss.
At twenty-three, Tessa was one of the youngest among the crew, signing on shortly after her twentieth birthday. She was the type of soldier the military preferred for extended space missions: a loner, no family ties, with no one to make a fuss if something went wrong.
“Don’t talk, Tessa,” Maggie urged, as she squeezed her shoulder. “Can’t you give her something for the pain?” she asked the medics.
“We gave her an injection on board,” Rebecca advised, “but we didn’t have much, and it wasn’t very effective, as you can see.”
As they moved away with Tessa, Maggie swung around, heading for the shuttle ramp to check on the others. Rosanna, the second from the landing team who had carried their injured teammate onto the ship, halted her with a hand gripping her arm.
“Seven feet tall if they were an inch,” she said in a dazed, distant voice.
Rebecca came to stand alongside her and picked up where she left off. “They were half-naked, dressed in some type of loincloth and nothing else, with long black hair down their backs.”
Saige moved up next; the biologist had also assisted her teammate from the shuttle. As the three stood in a row, they wore the same stunned expression, all visibly shaken.
Maggie stared at them a moment then glanced back to the shuttle. There was no movement or sound from within. She took a step forward, dread filling her. “Where are the others? Are they injured, too?”
“There are no others,” came Rebecca’s broken whisper. “They were taken.”
A collective gasp rose from the surrounding group, except for their captain who was stoic as she processed the news. Seven scientists, including Lieutenant Eva LaCroix, their only botanist, and Eryn, another of her officers, hadn’t returned.
“How?” she demanded, her voice steady and cool, though inside she was reeling from the devastating news.
“As Tessa reported, we were outmanned, outgunned, out everything’d,” Rosanna replied.
“Guns? I thought you said they were half-naked barbarians.”
The three returning glanced at one another, apparently as confused about who and what they were as she was.
Saige answered when no one else seemed able to. “We’re puzzled over it, too, Captain.” As well as being in shock, she had scratches on her face and a long gash on her upper arm, visible through a tear in her sleeve. Her eyes were wide, her skin pale, and she didn’t seem cognizant of the blood oozing from her wound. “They looked like normal men except for their size. And they were fast; their long legs overtook the others easily. I’m surprised the four of us got away. A few even came out of the trees like freaking Tarzan!”
“They were ape-men?” someone behind Maggie exclaimed in horror. “Dear Lord, we have to go after them, Captain. Imagine what those animals are doing to them as we speak—”
Her words, verbalizing the horrors that Maggie’s troubled mind had also conjured, were interrupted by a call from the bridge.
“Captain, we’ve picked up a ship.”
“What? Where?”
“It was hidden from us by the planet and the interference. It’s coming around from the west, fast.”
“Stealth shields now,” Maggie ordered. “I’m on my way.”
“Aye, Captain. Bridge out.”
“What about the others?” Rebecca demanded. “At least one was injured. I saw Eryn trying to help her, right before they were both taken.”
“But how?” she asked. “In the transmission, we heard your blasters.”
“They had a jammer of some kind. After our first volley, they were useless.”
“But the shuttle was armed,” Maggie pressed, needing clarity.
She shook her head. “The vegetation ended up being much heavier than expected, so we had to hike to the water source. They took us by surprise while we were gathering samples.” Rebecca’s face got tight, and her jaw tensed as she continued. “It was on my orders. I fucked up. We shouldn’t have gone so far from the safety of the craft.”
“We all agreed it was worth the risk,” Rosanna shot back at her, apparently continuing an old argument.
Rebecca didn’t seem convinced as she continued. “We had no choice except to run, leaving our equipment behind. We ended up separated as they hunted us.”
“Hunted!” Janie repeated. “Oh, my God, you mean like prey?”
“That’s what it felt like,” Saige replied as she shuddered. “I saw one of the huge beasts.”
“Beasts!” someone cried. “Were they animals or men?”
“They looked a lot like our men, although they didn’t act it. No Earthman is near as strong. I was following Eva, who seemed to know the way back when one dropped out of the trees in front of her. He growled at her, in some unintelligible language, and tossed her over his shoulder like she was a rag doll. She fought, but he subdued her and…” Saige closed her eyes as if overcome by the memory.
“What?” Nala insisted. “Tell us.”
“He subdued her, striking her. I’ll never forget the sound of her screams.”
“He beat her with his fists?” Maggie exclaimed in horror.
The young scientist frowned, dirty fingers rubbing her brow as she shook her head. “No, it was more like an open-hand smack.”
“Across the face? What monsters!” someone cried.
“No, it was on her—”
“What?” the sergeant demanded.
“He slapped her across her backside, which was pointed skyward as she hung over his shoulder.”
The women stared, slack-jawed.
“You mean he spanked her?” Nala breathed.
“Yes, while he carried her off into the jungle.”
“This is insane,” another guard murmured in shock. “What kind of creatures run around half-naked, but have advanced weapons then attack a group of females, and carry them off like brutes?”
“Savages!” This angry response came from a few of the crew at once.
“Yes,” Rosanna breathed.
Saige nodded as she agreed. “Or some sort of alien Neanderthals!”
“No,” Rebecca spat. “Fucking barbarians!” Her enraged eyes shot to Maggie. “We have to go back for them.”
She shook her head sadly; that wasn’t an option right now. “We need to take care of this new threat first.”
“But, Captain,” Rosana cried, “they might not have time to wait.”
“I understand that, but we can’t do a thing if this damn interference doesn’t die down. If we send another crew and lose contact…” She paused, shaking her head vehemently. “No, I won’t risk more of us to unknowns.”
“Bridge to landing bay,” came an urgent voice through the speakers overhead. “Captain, the ship is coming fast. I recommend a change of course, immediately.”
“Take us out of orbit, Lieutenant. I’m on my way.” She turned and faced her people, after making one of the toughest calls of her life. “I’m sorry. Lockwood, La Croix, and the others, they all knew the risks involved, just like you did. There are 292 other women on board that I must think about as well. Not to mention our mission and the millions depending on us back on Earth.”
“The good of the many, eh, Captain?” Rebecca replied with a touch of censure in her tone.
As Maggie bristled, her gaze swept over the crew, seeing a riot of emotions: turmoil, anger, fear, and sadness. When they came to rest on her first officer, she took a step forward, her reserved demeanor cracking.
“Do you think I don’t care what happens to them, Rebecca? Those women are my responsibility, but so are you, Rosanna, Saige, Tessa, and everyone else on this ship. You know as well as I do that not one of those women would want us to put more lives on the line for them, not to mention the billions of people on Earth who are at risk if we fail. They knew to be at the rendezvous point on time, or be left behind. Isn’t that why you four took off in the shuttle without them?” The surviving women shifted uncomfortably, shooting guilt-ridden glances at one another as her point hit home. “If there had been any other way, you would have stayed and fought for them,” Maggie added. “It seems cold, but you said yourself, you were outmatched.”
“We understand, Captain. But it’s gut-wrenching having to leave our own behind.”
When her voice broke, Maggie understood what Rebecca was going through. As the officer in charge, she felt the loss more deeply, because their lives had been in her hands. It was the same guilt she grappled with as captain, and for giving the orders for a landing party in the first place.
Reaching out, she squeezed her distraught friend’s shoulder. Leadership was difficult and often thankless. “I need to get to the bridge,” she stated in a more even tone. “You and the others need to be seen by the medical team.” She waved forward the other medics who were waiting nearby. As they moved in, her gaze sought and held Rebecca’s. “Once we see about this next shit-storm heading our way, we’ll focus on what we can do to retrieve our missing crew.”
With that, she spun on her heel and strode quickly toward the lift. Once inside and moving, she took the few seconds she had alone to lean heavily against the wall, feeling the oppressive weight of her responsibility. Leave eight good people behind to save nearly three hundred, or fight and possibly lose them all. What an impossible choice.
“Fucking hell,” she murmured as the doors opened on the next monumental crisis.