Phantom Trajectory: Part V
(Check Out Part Four HERE)
The Trip Home
Elisa watched Reggie's and David's vitals and their tracking signals move down the corridor. She kept her eyes on them for just a moment, and then moved to her console. With her fingers rapidly moving along the monitor screen, Elisa tried every avenue to get the communications back online. Every effort lead to a dead end.
She could enact an emergency override, but knowing how in tune the cosmonauts had gotten with the systems, it would probably be like setting off an alarm. That was a last-ditch effort, and not while the boys were making the trek to the cargo hold
As she worked tirelessly, Neptune's blue aura would catch her eye for brief seconds. They had completed the orbit, and Neptune was now on her left, just in sight of the large viewing window in the front of the command cabin. A heavy sigh escaped her, as she came to terms with what would be her historic flight.
It would go down in history. Or perhaps, be erased from it by the powers that be. What would happen when they returned? Would anyone believe their story? Elisa thought of Denise. She would have to tell Denise's mother what had happened. She would have to take the blame for it. Elisa took the emotional weight of that and buried it for the time being. She had to focus.
Every access point in the system seemed fried. She was getting nowhere. She looked up to check on the vitals and the tracking sensors for Reggie and David. They were all reading normal and they were almost a quarter of the way there. Then the screen went black. The whole command went black, save for the blue glow from Neptune.
Elisa immediately went to her wrist console.
"Reggie? David? Do you copy? Hello?" Silence permeated through the darkness within command. Elisa looked at the console and cursed under her breath. She closed her eyes and tried to regulate her breathing. When she opened them, there was more light in the room. Just noticeable, though. It came from behind her. Elisa stood up and wheeled around to the command entrance door.
The anteroom's lights were on, but flickering. Within the pulsing light, at the threshold of the door, was a figure. It was silhouetted against the contrasting back light of the anteroom, and it was motionless. Elisa's eyes began darting left and right for anything she could use to defend herself.
Dammit. Didn't think of that one. Elisa thought to herself as she clenched her fists, readying for combat. The figure then began to walk in. It lumbered through the dark and into the blue glow, where Elisa could see a face.
Colt.
He was standing in front of her, a wicked smile slapped across his face. Elisa bore a look of confusion, and took a step back.
"Colt? What are you doing here? How did you get out of quarantine?" She asked, hiding any fear that might have been within her at the moment.
Colt laughed, but it barely sounded like him. He licked his lips in a provocative manner, and looked Elisa up and down before chuckling to himself once more.
"They let me out. I had some unfinished business, and they are letting me get right to it, you see?" Colt spoke words coated in malice and ill intent. Elisa took a step towards him to engage, but Colt quickly held up the combat knife he had and then looked as if he was a parent disciplining a child.
"Oh, no no no, my dear. You stay right there. Look at you, little miss captain. You always thought so highly of yourself. Your accolades. But everyone who helped you, well they just became dog shit once we got back on land, huh?" Colt was now spinning the knife on his hand with dangerous precision.
"You've lost your mind, Colt. Stand down." Elisa said sternly. Colt just smiled in return.
"You know you should try to be more of a human and less of a rank. Show your softer side, I'm sure Reggie has seen it. Look but no touch, right?" Colt burst into laughter at his own insult, and Elisa stood in quivering rage.
"Fuck you, Colt." Elisa spoke from the heart. She nearly spit onto her glass visor as she did, her contempt was palpable. Colt now started to slowly circle Elisa's console, and she kept pace, keeping him as far away as possible.
"If you had done that, maybe we would have had a better working relationship as well, darling,." Colt said as he slashed his knife at the air in front of him. Elisa did not flinch. Colt then stopped and put his arms out as if preaching a sermon to a non-believer.
"Look at what has happened here. Everyone is dying, Elisa. We can make it through it though. You and me. Just stop trying to be the captain that we both know you aren't. This mission was too much for you. You're just not fit for this, my dear,." Colt said. His eyes were fixated on Elisa, who returned a smoldering stare.
"I haven't killed everyone yet, Colt. You're still here. That can change, however. Captain's prerogative." Elisa said and a half smile crept onto her face. Colt closed his eyes like he had been stung, and then nodded solemnly.
"Fine, have it your way then." Colt lunged over the console his blade seeking its target. Elisa spun away from the attack, but the blade sliced through her suit and left a nasty cut on her left arm. She grabbed at it for a moment, but then Colt was upon her.
Colt came in with a heavy overhand swing with the blade, looking to drive it deep into Elisa's chest. Elisa let go of her pain and used both hands to catch Colt's arm before it could make contact. For a moment they were locked in a battle of strength. Colt used his free hand to punch Elisa in the stomach. Elisa took the blow, and the air escaped from her. Her grip weakened and Colt looked to push through.
Elisa thought quick and fought dirty. She landed a well-placed knee into Colt's groin. Colt was mad, but he could still feel pain. Elisa landed another knee as she twisted and pulled the knife from Colt's hands. Colt was bent over the command console, screaming in pain and rage.
"You are mine!" Colt shouted to the room, as he spun from the console and charged at Elisa. She stood her ground and jammed the blade directly into Colt's throat as he reached her. She had pushed forward into Colt's charge with such force that she lifted Colt up and sent him backwards, the blade being wretched from her hands. Colt backed up, his hands flailing at his combat knife that was lodged in him.
Colt tried to pry it free, but a fountain of blood spurted from the wound, and Colt just did more damage. Colt fell to one knee, and then to both. He managed to cast one last glance at Elisa, of disbelief. Elisa drank in Colt's last breath as he collapsed to the floor and died, the knife still lodged in his neck.
Elisa was breathing heavily. She looked at Colt now with pity. That wasn't the person she knew, and despite his faults, he should not have died like this. Elisa's eyes remained on him as she stepped behind the console once more. A shuffling sound behind her made her spin, her adrenaline still coursing through her.
Just inches behind her was the cosmonaut with the most ornate suit, the highest ranking ghost on board. its skull peered straight into Elisa's eyes and its jaw opened as if to scream.
Elisa reacted without thinking, and landed a hard right hook on the skull, sending the lower jaw flying across the room. The cosmonaut itself, however, had not budged. The now deformed skull focused on Elisa once more, and she could have sworn she saw the eye sockets shift into a scowl.
"Fuck." It was all Elisa got out before the cosmonaut gripped her by the chest of her suit and lifted her up into the air. Elisa grabbed and shook at the skeletal hand that held her, but it did nothing. She lingered off the ground for a moment, and it felt as if an eternity had passed. The room then became a blur, as the cosmonaut slammed Elisa helmet first into a nearby console. The impact was so violent that her visor exploded. Her head snapped forward and back within her helmet and then the cosmonaut tossed her body to the side.
Another cosmonaut entered through the door as the jaw-less cosmonaut commander sat in the captain's chair, and began starting the wormhole drives. It was as if he knew everything about the ship. The door to the command cabin closed, a light on it flashing from green to red to signal it was locked. The other cosmonaut stood behind the commander and they both looked out at space, and at the way home.
Elisa lay in excruciating pain. Several shards of the glass visor had impaled her face, one large shard directly into her left eye. She was dying, and she knew it. As the cosmonauts readied the ship to make the jump, they got lax with the other systems they were controlling, for Elisa saw the other consoles flash on to default modes. Then the cameras came back on, and went back to their cycles. After a few cycles, they began to track motion. Another cosmonaut, it appeared, was sprinting through the corridor towards the command cabin, and was almost there.
Elise knew that run. She had seen it so many times before, whether on the lunar mining ships, or entertaining guests on an orbit over the Earth, she knew it well. It was Reggie. Elisa blinked, and then looked to her wrist console. It was still operational.
She moved her arm slowly, to not attract attention. She put in a command code only she knew, and ran an override on all internal doors to unlock and open. As her override hit the system, the commander cosmonaut immediately knew, and turned towards her and howled like a devil in distress. The other cosmonaut strode over to Elisa.
Elisa managed to get her right eye to peer out of her broken helmet to catch one last glimpse of Neptune, just before it passed out of view of the command cabin window. A pained smiled adorned her face, as the cosmonaut reached her. Its boot raised up and fell with crushing force onto her face. The shards were all forced deep into her face as her skull caved in and began to fill the helmet with blood.
As Elisa died, the door to the command cabin flashed from red back to green, and the door flung open. Reggie ran in, and saw the cosmonaut standing over Elisa's corpse. Reggie screamed something unholy and fired a blast from his ILB-2. The cosmonaut had no chance, and its skull disintegrated as its body withered to ash.
Reggie turned to face the jaw-less commander, but he wasn't quick enough. The commander swatted Reggie like a fly and he crashed over a console and onto the floor. He lost grip on the ILB-2 and it tumbled well away from him. Outside the window of the cabin, a cyclone of colors began to emerge as the ship began its jump. Reggie watched the whole command illuminate like a kaleidoscope. The commander was barreling towards him, and Reggie found a bloody grin forming on his face.
Reggie pulled David's ILB-2 from his boot. He raised it and aimed it at the monstrosity. The cabin flashed orange as the cyclone of colors outside enveloped the ship as the jump was made
The ship had been floating adrift for fifteen minutes. A rescue shuttle had been dispatched and had connected with the starboard docking station, using authorization codes from the Commander Bruskins, who had insisted on going to see what had happened to the ship.
The rescue team entered the ship and headed for the command cabin. They saw no explanation for the loss of contact, or any of the crew until they reached the anteroom.
One team member became sick. The others let out gasps and tried not to look at the gore that was all around. Bruskins simply closed his eyes for a moment, his greatest fears now come to pass. Bruskins moved up to the command cabin door, and unlocked it. Inside was a sight of macabre mystery. Two suits, Soviet in design, lay on the ground, with piles of ash inside. They say the body of Colt and his knife, and the unidentifiable carnage that was Elisa.
"Over here! This one's alive," said a rescue member. Bruskins rushed over and noted that the man was also wearing a Soviet suit, but disregarded it at the time when he saw the man's face.
"Reggie! By God! Quick, get him to medical, here on the ship. We can check him here then transport to the surface afterwards." Bruskins shouted the orders and the team members flinched, but quickly produced a portable gurney and loaded Reggie onto it. They scurried out of the command cabin, and Bruskins grabbed a rescue member named Decker. Bruskins placed a card in the man's hands and pointed at the consoles when he spoke.
"Put this card into the console. It will allow you access to everything recorded on the ships log, all video, and all data it took in. You gather everything, and I mean everything, and bring it directly to me. Now!" Bruskins was quietly stern, and then left to tend to Reggie in medical.
Decker sat down at the least damaged console and placed the card into the console and set it to download all ship data. Decker leaned back in the chair and waited. As he did, he noticed a monitor off to the side was flashing. He swung the chair over to see what it was. Two codes kept flashing in repeat.
CODE 261: MOTION DETECTED IN CARGO HOLD.
CODE 119: UNKNOWN ORGANIC MATERIAL DETECTED. CONTAMINATION POSSIBLE.
Decker cleared out the codes and continued the download, but the codes began flashing once more.
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