Senton
Before Korryn and he split to finish their separate plans--he to try to follow Karl (his name for the baby), she to use some of the tranquilizers he'd furnished her with from the stock in his lab--Senton caught her by the arm. "Hey," he said, the yellow lighting of the room making the bloodstains dark and ominous and her beautiful face strangely hued, "I want to see you again." She nodded, giving him a slight look of confusion. "Of course." "No, I mean, I think…" He paused. "I don't know how to say this." Korryn shifted to another foot. "We're wasting time." "I know, I know." Senton drew in a deep breath. "I think I like you." "You think?" He shook his head. "No, I mean I do like you. I like you. A lot." Embarrassment swam over him, tickling his brain and distracting him with a flutter in his stomach. He could feel heat on his face, but he knew that his darker skin didn't show through when he blushed, so he could be thankful for that much grace. "I mean, I want us to, y'know…figure it out." "It?" "Us. Not just this little business venture and scientific exploration. I mean, us." Korryn leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "You're cute." Turning away, she glanced up one direction, then the other. "I'll think about it," she said, throwing him an impish smile that turned his knees to water. Then she was gone, her butt well framed by her coveralls as she ran down the right-hand hall. "I'll take it," he said softly, one hand touching his cheek. A far away sound of crashing glass drew him back into the moment. The Dentolura were attacking, he knew that much. That was the only explanation for the loss of power. But were they actually getting inside? Was their plan going to work? He'd kind of doubted they'd be able to collect anything easily, particularly if there wasn't someone who opened it up. But that sound…what was that? Shaking his head to dismiss the worry, he scooped up the collapsed specimen cage he'd used when he'd gone out to first collect Karl. It was built of a lightweight polymer--stronger than most unalloyed metals, but an eighth the weight--and could fold into a small package, no larger than a couple of viz-players placed together. It clipped onto his belt. Shucking off his lab coat, Senton also added a bevy of tranqs to his belt. He didn't want to be unprepared. Stepping out of the lab, he went left, tracing the ventilation system in his mind as he walked. During his first couple of days at the Compound, he'd found that he'd get lost so easily that he had to constantly rely on his aedee's navigational protocols to get anywhere. While he didn't mind using the nav protocols necessarily, it was frustrating to be ignorant about anything. Unlike others, he didn't enjoy relying on the aedee. It was a tool, not a way of life. As a result, he'd spent his first weekend memorizing the layout of his new home. This served him well now, because the aedees were given different levels of access when it came to navigation. They would plot out the best path for the types of clearance the owner had, bypassing areas that were off limits or under construction or whatever change might be there. That meant that others didn't know the shortcuts and bypasses that he did. They weren't as likely to know, for example, that the ventilation system ran parallel but beneath the tunnels through the area of the Compound closer to the Laboratory wing, but then splayed out when they hit the Cafeteria wing and even more-so when they arrived at the Dormitory wing. There were manifold outflow areas, but they all received the cleaned, human-worthy air through a treatment on the opposite side of the Compound from where he was. In other words, the place where the smell of the outside was greatest was in the Life Support wing, and it was his best bet that Karl was trying to find clean air. Indeed, that was something that had surprised him. Humans couldn't breathe Prospero's atmosphere, and he'd been worried about what would happen to the infant when he had caught it that afternoon--had it only been this afternoon? So much had happened, it seemed, since then--and only the desperation of needing to get Karl inside before anyone noticed had forced him to take the risk. If worst case scenario had surfaced, Senton would have been able to assuage his loss by knowing he could dissect the creature and study its remains. But, to his surprise, and excitement, Karl had, after only a few minutes of obvious distress, adapted to the greater oxygen-content of the Compound. The little guy had regain his color soon after breathing normally, and within fifteen minutes, acted as though nothing were different. Though part of the scientist mind noted that this was alarming on a certain level, Senton ignored it. Rapid adaptation to atmospheric changes would be one of the greatest evolutionary benefits he could think of, and it explained why it appeared that the Dentolura had dominated so much of the ecological niche on Prospero. The creatures could inhabit habitats on the highest mountains, lowest valleys, areas of immense desert and humid rainforests. That flexibility was only one of the many reasons that he wanted to keep studying the creatures, and why it was so important that he kept playing Korryn along. Of course, he cared about her. He hadn't been lying, he told himself as he ran down the hallway. She was ambitious, that much was certain. He didn't appreciate the idea of "selling out" in order to do his science, but the appeal was too great. He needed to understand these creatures, and no cost was too high. That she had said he was cute had helped him to push back the feelings of betraying his discipline for cold hard cash. The fact that they'd already dated a couple of times before and had both enjoyed it made him think that maybe she was the right kind of person for him. After all, wouldn't that be an incredible future for them both? She, making the money they needed to live in comfort, freeing him up to pursue additional scientific discoveries? Though they weren't the first to discover extraterrestrial life (that had happened on a planet near the Sagittarius quadrant, a place with bacterial life) nor the first to discover complex life (that was on a moon orbiting a Goldilocks planet not too far from Betelgeuse), they would be the first to really study xenobiology in its manifest forms. Prospero was exciting because it gave that opportunity; capitalizing on it could be a way to fully explore that opportunity. His thoughts continued to bounce around, from his studies to the possibilities with Korryn to what it would be like if Korryn really did like him to perhaps what they might do together--or to each other--as he scurried toward a service passage that would shave a few minutes of wandering down main thoroughfares. The emergency lights cast everything in an ethereal hue, but he hardly noticed. Emerging from the connecting tunnel, he arrived at Desert Peaks Avenue--a large tunnel, sponsored by DP, of course--and turned left, heading northward. More than a few people passed him, and all those who did had a look of panic on their faces. One tried to stop him and tell him to go the opposite direction, but he ignored her and moved on with the most direct path to the Life Support area. To get there, he'd pass through the Dormitory wing, which was likely quite crowded. That could be problematic, but only if more thoughtful neighbors tried to stop him. Why were they all running away, anyway? It was only then, after overhearing someone, her voice frantic, shout at her children, that they needed to hurry because it was an emergency that he realized he'd missed something. So involved in his own thoughts, Senton had missed the arrival of a Compound-wide broadcast from Captain Rall. Queuing it into his audio receptors, he let the message play through his aedee as he wove through the ever-thickening crowd. "Citizens of Prospero," the message said, and Senton thought he could hear some strain in the man's voice, "this is Captain Rall. We are under attack by the xenoforms native to Prospero. For everyone's safety, please evacuate according to Procedure Six. Security guards will be stationed at every main juncture to help you get to the Hangar." Senton cursed. More people at the Hangar meant more witnesses! Rall was ruining his plan. "Do not return to your dorms. Take only your immediate possessions. For those with families, please await their arrival at the Hangar. We need the traffic to flow in only one direction. This evacuation is merely a precaution until the Security crew can secure the entire Compound." Senton looked around, grinding his teeth in frustration. There were more people than before, all of them flowing the opposite direction he needed to go. A few meters ahead of him, he saw a Security crewmember, waving her arms to direct the traffic. Most of the faces of the passing colonists were painted with panic, fear, or worry. A few, like him, were frustrated. One approached the Security guard and began arguing with her about how he needed to get past. Senton used the distraction to get himself further along without being spotted, but he needed to leave DP Ave as soon as possible. This was not good. Not only did it mean that the creatures really were inside, but it meant that more people were getting to see them. That probably would bother Korryn--he shook his head, cutting off the thought. How quickly he'd fallen into her way of thinking about the creatures and Korryn's point of view. No, he needed to focus on getting his specimens secured. That was all that mattered. A scream pulled him out of his thoughts. Behind him, perhaps a good twenty meters away, a Dentolura burst out of a side passage. This one looked quite different from Karl--instead of standing with its hips beneath it, this one's front legs were splayed outward. A large muzzle, filled with teeth on its jaws and bristling with spikes on its cranial helmet, snapped down on a fallen colonist. Senton's eyes widened in fear and surprise as the man's arm disappeared in a mist of blood, swallowed down the gullet of the sprawling lura. The crowd surged, turning around and pushing each other toward the Dormitory wing. Senton stumbled, but regained his feet and, with the dozens of people in the Desert Peaks Avenue, rushed away from the rampaging lura. As he turned away, he managed to catch a glimpse of it slashing out with its tail, a formidable weapon at least two meters long and covered with spikes, held out parallel to the ground. The person it connected with severed in two with the force of the attack. More people screamed. The smell of blood washed over him. Fear warred with curiosity. Yes, it was dangerous, but what an opportunity! He was saddened by the deaths, of course, but he'd never seen the creatures up close before. This particular species of Dentolura had been called Dentolura succhi, and the drones had noted that they tended toward the rivers and lakes nearby. Spotting them had been difficult, as they preferred to keep underwater and relied on ambush tactics to bring down prey. To see one in action--even when that action was in the midst of a crowd of people--was thrilling. He glanced back in time to see it pounce on one of the people in the back of the crowd, removing the woman's head with a savage snap. Maybe thrilling was the wrong word. Despite the press of people all sprinting in the same direction, Senton knew where he was. There was another service tunnel off to the left. If he could just get there through the press of people, he'd be able to avoid the mob and perhaps manage to get himself to the Dormitory wing without any more problems. The process of working his way over proved more troublesome than he expected, and by the time he'd arrived on the left side of the hallway, he'd passed the door by a good three meters. Pushing against the stream of bodies, he navigated to the entrance and palmed his aedee against the wall-mounted pad. The door dilated obediently, and he slipped in. As it constricted, he saw the Dentolura succhi approach, its mouth open and a malevolent hiss roiling from within its barrel-chest. Taking a deep breath, he hurried northward, following the appropriate pipes that showed him which turn to take if he wanted to get to the Dormitory. Of course, that particular lura was also headed toward the Dormitory. Still, if he could go faster than the mob, he'd get there, pass through, and be on his way to the Life Support wing before he had to worry about the creature. Despite the adrenaline, he found himself tired by the time he safely arrived at the Dormitory. Stepping out of the service tunnel, he paused to catch his breath. The lobby of the entrance was abandoned, but he could hear the sounds of the approaching mob. He'd accomplished this much, but he needed a break. He didn't exercise much, as a matter of course, and all this running was wearing him out. Off to one side, he saw a tray of food, abandoned, no doubt, when Captain Rall's announcement had come through the aedee network. He scooped up a roll and drank down the entire cup of cold tea, grimacing at the weedy taste. He'd never much cared for tea, being more of a coffee person. But coffee was harder to grow here on Prospero, which meant they had to import it-- The broad doors to the Dormitory wing's foyer began to open, and he could see people trying to scramble beneath it as it slowly raised. He didn't have any more time. Jogging, Senton entered the main hallway. The dorms were laid out like a massive grid, with multiple levels, all identical. Though the colonists could dress up the outside of their rooms as much as they liked, the overall feeling was one of uniformity and depressing unoriginality. Still, it meant that he could run in a straight line all the way to the far end of the Dormitory wing, where the access to Gateway Avenue would help get him to the Life Support wing. Behind him, screams began to come through the opening door. Glancing around, he saw that there were some people who were peeking their heads out from their dorm rooms. The thought of telling them to get to safety crossed his mind, but he didn't want to waste his breath. They'd probably be okay. He focused on running. The screams, the snapping of lura jaws, the deeply pitched hissing--all of it followed after him, a wave of sonic despair that helped propel him forward. After what seemed too long of running down the same colored hallway, he arrived at the far end. Palming open the door, he gasped and turned, watching the wave of people dispersing through the grid of dormitories. This was probably their best option, as it gave them multiple directions to go and plenty of areas to hide as the Dentolura succhi stomped after them. He turned to the door, then his eyes went wide. It was Ann. "Senton?" she said, her sweat-streaked face a picture of surprise. "What are you doing here?" Senton's eyes slid past her and, it seemed, time slowed. He saw Karl, wriggling free of a vent, heading toward the Gateway Avenue, which was surprisingly empty. In front of him, Ann was raising her hand, as if to grab him. Behind him, the Dentolura succhi growled, its jaws clamping down on another victim, whose screams cut off in a gurgle of blood. Without thinking, without knowing why, necessarily, he made the choice. He wanted Karl. Snagging Ann, he whirled her into the dorm where she tumbled to the ground with a yelp. He slapped the door's pad with his aedee and closed it behind him. Time to get his baby back. |
What is this?This is a NaNoWriMo project that publishes, day by day, the chapters I'm writing for 2017. If you're confused, go to Chapter 1 Ann and start there. ArchivesCategories
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