Ancient Astronauts

Lurking Horror

The room was quiet. An enormous forty by forty foot screen was set on the far wall. Several officers, some of whom Aly recognized from the pre mission briefing, stood in silence watching it.

The screen showed an aerial view of the colony, updated in real time by the dozen satellites the Astral Ark launched into orbit on approach. All around the colony were small red dots, thousands of them moving in seemingly random ways. It took Aly a second to take it all in before she noticed the same red dots, also in the thousands within the colony. Her belly sank. What was going on?

A feeble voice, originating from an elderly, hunched black officer was speaking to Hans.

"How certain are you that these things we're looking for pose a threat?"

"I'm certain," Hans' deep baritone replied. Alyonna spotted his massive frame standing on the right side of the assembled high command.

The elderly officer, who stood on the left side, spoke again. He seemed to be making an effort to control himself, "Hans, my old friend, is it possible that this is just an illusion brought on by the trauma on the bridge? That you might've simply dreamt it? Why are you having us seek 'odd' patterns among the heat signatures of every living thing in a two hundred mile radius?"

Hans crossed the room and laid a large hand on the elderly officer's shoulder, "Tyrone," he used his first-mate's familiar name, "I didn't simply dream it. I tried everything to wake up from that coma. For twenty-five years I was trapped in that hell loop on the bridge fighting to get back here to all of you, chasing fleeting snatches of Alyonna's voice. It was only when I heard them, when I remembered what happened, that I finally got to come back."

"The bridge was attacked?" Alyonna asked Lt. Troy under her breath.

Troy didn't respond for a moment then replied, "It seems like it from what the governor is saying."

Alyonna caught a glimpse of uncertainty flickering across his face. That wasn't good.

Steeling herself and ignoring Troy's warnings, Alyonna marched forward, pushing her way through the throng of officers.

"Hans," she said his name in her, 'don't give me any shit and pay attention' voice.

Hans looked surprised to see her, "Al-Aly, what are you doing here?"

"I let her in," the labored voice of first mate, now General, Tyrone Hunter spoke from behind him.

"Why would you do that?" Hans demanded turning on him, "She needs to be back at the house where she's safe."

"Hans!"

Hans turned back to her. She saw fear in his eyes. Not the "scared to death and mounting up anyway, soldier boy," kind of fear. No, there was barely-contained panic in his eyes.

Alyonna relaxed a little and smiled at him. She'd had to get his attention, but didn't want to embarrass him in front of his men. She moved in closer to him and took his hand.

At her touch, the fear in his eyes seemed to abate. The worry lines relaxed noticeably.

"Talk privately?"

Hans only nodded and led her into another room, waving away the personnel in the general area. When he was sure they were alone, he turned to her.

"What is it, Aly?" He asked a little more gruffly than intended.

Alyonna didn't even wince, "Hans, baby, you're back, but it's like you're not back. Please," tears moistened her eyes, "please tell me what's going on."

Hans turned away for a moment and hung his head as though he were Atlas holding up the world. In a way, he was.

"The Astral Ark's bridge was attacked," he finally said, "I'm certain of it."

"By who?" Alyonna asked patiently. Orion Sky had covered PTSD management in the training program everyone took for the journey. Part of her felt like she was just playing along, the other part...she couldn't bring herself to consider that someone HAD sabotaged the Astral Ark.

"Not who," Hans' voice calmed when he realized she was listening. Perhaps the first person to really do that all day, "What."

"What?" Alyonna mirrored in a calm, questioning tone empty of judgment.

"I'm not sure what it was," Hans admitted, "Only that it wasn't human. Whatever it was, it was on the ship."

"Okaay," Alyonna said in an accepting tone, "So, it was on the ship and attacked you on the bridge?"

"Yes," Hans replied, "It attacked us."

"What did it look like?"

"I'm not sure. We never saw it, only heard it."

Alyonna said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

After a moment he did, "After the Astral Ark was hit with debris from the asteroid, the bridge was a wreck, but it wasn't on fire. The warning system indicated hull breeches on three decks and the cargo hold. We got the comms up and Commander Mahelona organized the engineers to get a full assessment.

"That's when we heard it. It was making a clicking sound. It was faint at first, like a watch, then got louder and louder. It was coming from the lavatory of all places. Ensign Dulin went to check it out. He started howling in pain. I grabbed the security guys, and we went in, weapons drawn. There was nothing we could do for him. He just screamed in some otherworldly voice until his eyes rolled into his head, and his pulse went flat.

"The clicking sound was coming from all directions. It seemed to penetrate our minds. One guy at the back started screaming and clutching his head. He was howling so loud we barely heard Commander Mahelona scream. Then gunshots erupted. In a horrible twist of fate, one of the bullets must've hit a wire relay connected to the fire control system. Sparks shot from it, the whole deck burst into flame, and there was no response from the FC system. Idiot development engineers, deciding to make the bridge all comfortable and pretty with wood paneling for our long trip, sentenced them all to death." Hans shook his head as if to clear it, "At least, that's what I think happened."

By the time Hans was finished speaking Alyonna had pressed herself into his chest, "Oh Hans, that's awful," she mumbled, "but, we arrived safely didn't we? Surely if it hadn't died in that fire it would've attacked again sometime in the remaining forty years?"