Alpha Rising (6 page)

“
Don’t say that.” She
walked away then rushed back, leaned into his face and focused on
his beady blue eyes. “Why?”

“
It ain’t quantum physics,
Kaz. We’re lost in space on a desolate, moon-like
planet.”

“
But it’s not the moon, so
where are we?”

Ignoring her, he stared straight ahead.

She darted back to the ramp. “Something
bad’s going to happen, I feel it, I—”

“
Listen, Kaz,” G.R.
interjected, “Earth has deserted areas and is inhabited by
millions. This place is probably the same. In my opinion, it’s just
a matter of time until someone comes for us.”

On return to the AstroLab, Deni held onto
Bach’s shoulder to navigate the soft sand. “I’m amazed that we
haven’t heard a sound other than voices from our ship,” she
said.

Bach entered first and announced, “We’ve
washed up on a deserted celestial shore. Don’t know if it’s good or
bad news, but we didn’t see anybody.”

Deni added, “It doesn’t seem an ideal
habitat for anyone.”

Kaz peeked outside. “Well, in G.R.’s
opinion, someone is going to come for us.” She looked at G.R. “Now
who might that be?”

Lynch stared at the control
panel and replied for G.R. “A little green man—for you.” His
sarcasm ended when a gauge flickered on the console and grabbed his
attention. He watched as it transformed into a glowing yellow
energy form pulsing in and out in the golfball-sized circle. A face
materialized, and within seconds the apparition’s hypnotic,
copper-colored eyes weakened the commander’s mental processes.
Lynch reacted by trying to touch it, but a scorching pain shot
through his hand and arm and moved his senses further from reality.
The disconcerting face whispered, “Welcome,” then dissolved away.
Lynch’s throat tightened and he started to sweat. Maybe he
was
in shock.

“
What else is out there?”
asked G.R.

“
We couldn’t see too far
with the lighting—it seems deserted except for the lake,” Bach
said. “There’s a partially submerged, flat-topped boulder in it as
big as a bus. No vegetation visible anywhere, but plenty of sand.
The space station’s dug into it deep.”

Deni nodded. “There’s no sound or movement
in the distance. No stars or moon. The sky is pure black, but that
beautiful glow-in-the-dark gold illuminates everything from the
ground. And no signs of habitation; we may be the first of a new
breed.”

“
Oh, no,” Kaz
whimpered.

“
Our biggest concern right
now is food and water,” Bach added. “There’s enough to stretch out
for one, maybe two weeks, but we’ll need more water for sanitation.
I’ll try to restore the space station’s hydroponic gardens and
merge the electronics and hardware from both the station and
Wizard—see if I can’t get something up and running. First, I want
to test the lake water for potability.” Bach searched the rubble
for a water test kit and, after finding it, crouched beside G.R.
and spoke confidentially, “In all your biological studies, have you
ever encountered a phenomenon where water’s so still it looks like
black glass?”

G.R. shook his head. “You’re saying the lake
is totally motionless?”

“
It was, until I tossed in
a handful of sand.”

“
And…?”

“
It sank straight down with
a gurgling stream. But then came a churning or heaving in that area
of the water, followed by the whole lake transforming into what
looked like a caldron of hissing bubbles that seemed
hungry.”

“
Hungry?”

“
Don’t know how else to
describe it—like they wanted to attack something.”

G.R. raised his Neanderthal-looking brows.
“Hmmm, varying densities could bring unusual movements, but
bubbles? It could contain microorganisms, or something crazy like
astral piranhas. Throw in something edible, like food crumbs. See
what happens before you touch it. If the only problem is the
bubbles, it might be a simple technicality due to difference in
gravity or atmospheric pressure. But the black—I don’t know.”

Lynch blurted out from the cockpit,
“Something just appeared in a control panel gauge. A man’s face,
three-dimensional, with eerie eyes that seemed to look straight
into my mind. His tongue flashed, like silver metal. I tried to
reach ‘n’ touch the image, but my arm and hand hurt.” Everyone
stared as Lynch continued without emotion. “It seemed to be
projected from somewhere beyond. And I ain’t crazy, but it spoke
’n’ said, ‘Welcome,’ then faded away.”

Deni looked at Lynch with enlarged eyes,
rested her fists on her hips and rocked her head back and forth.
“You saw a face in the control panel with eyes that tried to
control you? And it spoke English? You’re still in shock.” She
backed away. “That’s normal after G-LOC.”

“
I’m not in shock,” Lynch
snapped. “I was compelled to look, but sensed evil. What if it was
Satan?”

“
You didn’t see Satan!”
Deni stated. “There’s a logical explanation for whatever it
was.”

“
He was real. I tried to
touch him.”

Bach got that sinking feeling he gets when
his data panels crash. His silent exhalation formed the words, “Oh,
God,” and he tuned out the rest of the conversation, wondering how
many hypnotic, copper-eyed, extraterrestrials they were up against.
One? Two? More?

Kaz scurried to Bach and rambled nonstop,
sounding like an old cassette tape played at fast-forward. “I’ve
got a feeling that something bad’s going to happen. Like on earth
when someone says that a spaceship came down and the aliens took
them aboard and did bad or weird things to them. What if they stick
needles in our navels?”

G.R. spoke up. “First of all Kaz, we’re the
aliens. And second, Lynch told us that the face said, ‘Welcome.’
That’s not scary.”

Bach tucked the test kit under his arm and
headed to the ramp with dried space food clenched in his fist.
“Goin’ to do the water analysis.” He cast a final wary eye at Lynch
who sat staring at the control panel. “Hey, Lynch, call me if you
see the face again. I’ll check it out.”

*****

CHAPTER EIGHT

With Bach’s statement ringing in his ears,
Lynch wasn’t about to have his authority undermined, and he was
angry that his crewmates gave no credence to the worrisome face he
believed was Satan. Determined to recoup his leadership status, the
commander barked at Deni, “Get busy. See if you can get something
operational. Raise someone or something on the comm links.”

She limped to the cockpit. “It’s all
damaged, Lynch. You don’t think….”

“
Do it.”

Using energy from the functioning power
cell, Deni tweaked the electronics and got a damaged component to
kick on with erratic squeals and flashes of light. But a louder,
more powerful whine ripped their attention away.

Lynch leapt to his feet and hovered over
Deni’s shoulder.

“
I don’t know what that
is!” She flipped switches and turned dials with an uneasy huff.
“It’s not us.”

As the ear-numbing sound intensified, the
startled crewmates bounced nervous glances off each other’s faces
and looked from viewports and windows. Within seconds, the sheer
power of approaching engines shook the three-piece earthship as if
it were a pocket-sized toy.

#

Bach tried to make it back to the ship, but
vibrations from the incoming craft spawned a waterspout that lifted
him from his feet and plunged him into the lake. He struggled to
swim from the bubbling whirlpool, but couldn’t tell up from down.
Thrashing about helplessly, he felt himself funneling farther
downward, and at one point thought he was going to black out. When
the incoming ship’s engines powered down for landing, the turbulent
water calmed a little and he shot upwards. But before he reached
the surface his head hit something hard. An involuntary gasp filled
his nostrils with a burning, acrid odor. His face was above the
water, but he couldn’t see. He swam forward for a few yards, but
again hit something solid. Then he realized that he was in an air
space under the giant boulder. He felt around for a way out, and
tried diving down, but the ship’s idling engines, or something in
the powerful mechanics, produced an unnatural pressurization that
held him in the air space.

#

Lynch, Deni, Kaz and G.R. had nowhere to
hide in the earthship as the thunderous assault of the incoming
engines wound down to a pulsating purr just beyond the AstroLab’s
open door. Deni yelled to Kaz. “Close the ramp!”

“
Hurry,” G.R.
added.

Kaz rushed to aft ship and grabbed the
crank. She couldn’t miss seeing the crimson-colored,
boomerang-shaped spacecraft parked just thirty yards away with its
engines idling and crisscrossing red laser beams slashing across
the barren terrain from thin rectangular windows in its midsection.
Trembling, she whispered, “Lynch saw Satan,” and then she couldn’t
move.

“
Kaz!” Deni yelled. “Take a
breath and crank!”

Kaz jerked in response and murmured,
“Breath! Okay!” She tightened her grip on the crank and lopped it
end-over-end with such force her body bounced up and down. The
weighty door rose an excruciating half-inch with each turn. She
cranked harder, until her hands burned and arms ached as if they
were pulling from their sockets. Grunting and groaning with teeth
gnashed, she shrieked in frustration at having the ramp only two
feet off the ground.

A door slid open on the metallic red
spaceship’s near side and five dark figures stepped out, single
file. As the aliens approached the AstroLab, Kaz’s legs started to
buckle, but it wasn’t from exhaustion. The astral life forms looked
like men on Earth; two blond-haired, two dark-haired—one
considerably taller than the others—and one with curly black hair
and brown skin. Brilliant blue jumpsuits clung to every muscle of
their well-defined bodies, and yellow utility belts at their waists
held eight unidentifiable devices. Burnished silver greaves, like
those worn by Grecian warriors, sheathed their legs from knee to
ankle.

Kaz held the crank but
forgot to turn it. She could only stare. The five burly men looked
like Superman minus the big
S
and red cape. As they neared the ship, the
shorter, dark-haired man jogged a few yards forward and hopped onto
the ramp. Kaz snapped back and frantically turned the crank. The
stranger neared with a smile and saluted with what looked like a
Boy Scout salute. He stepped inside. “Welcome to Jenesis.” He moved
Kaz’s hands from the crank and reversed it to lower the ramp. His
colleagues came aboard talking to each other in English.

The aliens assessed the other earthlings who
were injured and too shocked to do anything but stare. Wasting no
time, the two blond-haired men headed to the airlock leading to the
space station.

G.R. yelled at their backs, “Don’t go in
there. The space station’s laboratory may have sustained damage.
You’ll risk contamination.” When the men continued, he yelled
louder, “Don’t go in there! There are biohazards from research and
experiments.”

One replied without looking back. “We have
safeguards. We must know what’s aboard before leaving the ships
unattended.”

Lynch turned on his authority. “There’s no
one else aboard. The space station and Wizard are unoccupied.”

The men opened the airlock hatch and crawled
through, shining a light ahead.

Deni didn’t blink, not wanting to miss a
second of being in the company of astral beings that looked and
spoke like earthlings. But although they appeared friendly, nothing
could be taken for granted. To spark a kinship with the black man
she asked, “‘Leaving the ships unattended’? Where are you taking
us?”

“
We are agents from Ulwor,”
he replied. “You will be welcome there.”

She tried to piece tidbits together. “But
when you came aboard, you said this was Jenesis.”

The black agent walked to the flight deck
and snooped around as he spoke. “Our planet is Jenesis. You’ve
crashed in the neutral sector. We are from the continent of
Ulwor.”

The two dark-haired agents rifled around and
picked through the wreckage, then the tall one lifted the blanket
covering Faith’s body. “I’m sorry to see that you lost one of your
crew.”

Kaz moved to his side and searched his face
with tense eyes. “We don’t know how she died. Nothing seems wrong
and there’s no blood or anything. What could’ve happened to
her?”

He parted Faith’s left eyelid with his
gloved fingers and looked at her eye. “No time to examine her now,”
he said. “Someone will come back later.”

“
She’s our crewmate. We
can’t leave her here.”

“
Her death will be handled
properly,” the tall man said, “at a later time.”

The two blond-haired agents returned from
the space station. Both carried transparent sacks filled with vials
and research materials.

G.R. watched in alarm as the men walked by
with the old experiments. “Please don’t expose those!” he begged.
“Please handle them carefully!”

“
You have nothing to worry
about,” one replied as they headed out the door. The heart-shaped
frame holding Kaz’s photo showed from the side of his
bag.

The black agent announced, “Time to depart
your ship. No time to search for personal effects.”

Lynch asked, “Will we get medical help?”

“
Your injuries will be
taken care of.”