U.S.S. Corsair - NX-011979
Nebula II Prototype
“Sic Parvis Magna”
(Greatness From Small Beginnings)
“The Key To Hell’s Gate – Part II”
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NeoDyne Research Station – Sealed Research Lab
Emerging from the darkness of the sealed laboratory stepped the slender body of a teenage human male. The young man said nothing his head down as shoulder length hair hung wet about his face hiding his expression from the shocked gaze of the Corsair’s marines. Moving closer, the marines grew anxious tightening their perimeter around the sealed exit door. Droplets of sweat rolled down foreheads, fingers nervously twitched on triggers, and tension filled the lungs of the living as the young boy drew ever closer.
The tension grew ever more severe with each passing second. Was the boy friend or foe? The marines looked at their superiors for answers, but none was forthcoming. Both Ramius and their team leader remained silent as the naked teen approached dripping wet and moving without a sound. Some of the marines sensed danger while others felt confident the boy was no threat to the well armed and highly skilled team of professional soldiers.
The high pitched whine of a phaser beam suddenly split the air as it cut through the dim, pale light of the lab with electric brilliance striking the young boy squarely in the chest. The youth emitted a chilling cry as the weapon tore through him. He sank to his knees and fell forward to the cold deck. The marines looked on in disbelief at the boy’s now lifeless body. The phaser had done its job with lethal effect and the man who had pulled the trigger remained steadfast with a cold, calculating gaze which bore no trace of remorse or regret.
Captain Ramius could sense the looks of his troops, but remained unapologetic. Despite their outward appearance these youths had been brutalized by NeoDyne scientists. Conceived by man and manipulated cell by cell these living experiments were not human. It was debatable if they even possessed a soul, but such discussions were for philosophers and clergymen of which Ramius was neither. Ramius was a combat pilot and commanding officer who knew the horrors that boy must have faced. They shared a commonality for Ramius was positive NeoDyne had used his brother’s cells and DNA to create the boy or augment his genetic makeup. That fact made the youth something like a brother to the captain who shared the same, but slightly different, genetic sequences. His own blood pulsed with an alien genome and Ramius alone knew the horror it could inflict if nurtured and left unchecked.
Pulling the trigger had saved the boy from a life as a NeoDyne weapon. The boy had got out easy – he didn’t have to live with knowledge of his existence. Ramius would bear that curse for him having taken a life in order to save it. Deep down Ramius struggled with the decision on an unconscious level. Had he really killed the youth as a noble gesture or had he done so to protect himself and his own dark secrets from becoming public? Filled with rage and adrenaline, Ramius had neither the time nor the desire to contemplate his internal emotions.
He felt he was doing the boy a favor. Killing him ended his misery as a NeoDyne tool and spared the youth from a life confined by Federation doctors and scientists who would forever hound him in search of the boy’s genetic secrets. Ramius knew all too well that rescuing the boy would have damned him to a life under a microscope for doctors, scientists, and researchers to poke and prod searching for the dark secrets of his essence. Such knowledge was not meant for humanity as its potential for misuse was far too great a risk. Earth’s own eugenics wars and NeoDyne’s dark ambitions were proof enough that man as he was could not be trusted with the responsibility and the power of creating and manipulating life itself.
The threat seemingly gone, many of the marines turned to their captain. Their gazes were different. Some faces showed apathy, others concern, while still others displayed uncertainty. However the marines felt, the deed had been done and the youth now lay dead before them at the hands of their captain and commanding officer.
No one dared question the captain’s action, but some felt he had gone too far. One of the marines broke ranks and moved toward the teenager’s lifeless body to ascertain his status. Ramius said nothing his weapon still up and at the ready his eyes holding a cold, icy gaze.
“He’s dead”, the marine said crouching over the body. “He doesn’t look to be older than eighteen or nineteen. There’s some weird markings on his abdomen and arm.”
“Sir, perhaps you were hasty in using force”, Alpha team’s commander asked the captain daring to challenge the officer’s actions.
“I did what needed to be done”, Ramius answered bluntly. “I have classified intelligence on the matter and my orders are quite clear on what is expected should we encounter NeoDyne experiments. As distasteful and regretful as that fact is, the actions were my own and I alone will bear the responsibility for them. You men are soldiers and we are in a struggle against the ambitions of a corrupt and powerful company with gross agendas to acquire power. If we are to win the battle there will be casualties.”
“He was unarmed sir”, the commander insisted.
“Captain”, the marine attending the dead boy’s body called out. “You won’t believe this, but I can’t seem to tell where the boy was shot. I mean we all saw him hit, but I can’t seem to find…”
The marine’s words were cut short as time dilated stretching infinitely almost to a total stop. Second by second ticked away possessing the longevity of hours. In that moment, Ramius instructed his finger to pull the trigger of his weapon, but the signal that jumped from his brain to his finger was a nanosecond too slow to save the marine.
The boy, seemingly dead, sprang again to life from the metal deck grate. His hand quickly shot upwards and closed around the marine’s throat crushing everything in its grasp. Like a dark specter from the depths of hell the boy rose as the marine fell – one soul exchanged for another. His hand dripping red with fresh blood the boy’s face was now visible as a pair of bright, crimson eyes glared back at the remaining marines through a tangle of wet, matted hair.
Time suddenly snapped like an overstretched rubber band and the seconds that held small eternities now exploded with the speed of a level one shockwave. A tidal wave of quickly moving time now rushed over Ramius and his men as the captain’s finger finally finished moving and pulled the trigger of his rifle.
“OPEN FIRE”, Alpha Team’s commander shouted as dozens of phaser beams quickly illuminated the room with their brightness. With a sharp hiss the boy crouched and ran at the marines moving with a quickness and speed no human could match. He dodged the first volley of weapons fire closing in on the marine’s tight defensive formation. Despite his superhuman abilities, the youth was no match for the overwhelming firepower of the defensive perimeter. Phaser after phaser hit home as the marines fired wildly in vain attempts to hit the nimble boy turned enemy. As several beams converged the youth let loose a horrifying, hellish, cry before disintegrating into a swirl of molecules and atoms ripped apart by weapons set far beyond the lethal range for normal humanoid life.
“What..the..the hell was that”, one of the marines nervously stammered.
His question went unanswered as another youth suddenly appeared from the darkness followed by another and another. Suddenly, the marines found themselves in a life or death fight for survival. The teenaged human experiments were faster, smarter, and more lethal than any lifeform the marines had ever fought, seen, or even imagined in their darkest nightmares. Charging the defensive line, the marines shot down life after life only to have it return from the dead moments later and resume its attack. Soon there were too many to hold back. As the marines’s line crumbled fighting became hand to hand as thirty marines struggled to defeat children that moved at twice their speed and with twice their strength. Four teenaged boys were decimating Ramius’s men as they fought. Ramius, could only watch as he struggled to defend himself from the vicious attacks from the nimble and lighting fast boys whose purpose was now brutally clear. They had been bred to be killing machines. Biological weapons for NeoDyne’s arsenal, the boys were carefully crafted soldiers with unflinching loyalty, no fears, no remorse, and worse, no morality, conscious, or soul to stand in their way of executing their creator’s desires
Ramius landed an uppercut on one of the boys knocking him backwards long enough for him to raise his phaser and fire. In an instant the boy disintegrated in a swirling luminescent cloud of crimson particles. Slowly, the marines turned the tide with sheer numbers as the remaining three boys continued to fight with no signs of stopping.
Then as suddenly as the attack had begun the boys each stopped in turn gripping their chests and heads as if overcome by some overwhelming pain. One fell to his knees, while the others staggered about unable to continue each groaning and crying out in obvious pain and anguish.
Ramius instantly knew what the boys were experiencing which despite the circumstances was a promising ray of hope in an otherwise dark situation. NeoDyne may have created the perfect weapons, but had not yet been able to overcome the limitations which prevented Ramius himself from using his abilities for extended periods of time. The revelation was a godsend. Capitalizing on the boy’s momentary weakness, Ramius fired his rifle again as his marines followed suit. Seconds later the remaining experiments were gone – disintegrated into nothingness.
Catching his breath, Ramius took stock of the situation. Six of his marines lay dead with three others wounded. The fight had been costly and the price immeasurably high. Once again, Ramius had paid a high price and would now have to live with the addition of seven more innocent souls on his already heavy conscious.
“My God, what the hell were those things”, the Alpha Team commander asked Ramius quietly as his men secured the area.
Before Ramius could answer the red lighting of the room was replaced by normal illumination. The voice of the station’s computer rang out echoing in the large metallic room.
“BIOHAZARD THREAT ELIMINATED. RETURNING TO CONDITION GREEN.”
The sealed door that Ramius had desperately tried to unlock now slid open exposing the interior of the station and granting the team access to the main research lab.
Ramius turned to the marines with an apologetic expression. He hadn’t planned on running into such advanced resistance against modified human weapons. He had anticipated a few NeoDyne security guards and perhaps a small group of crack mercenaries on the NeoDyne payroll. Nothing could have prepared him for what they had just fought and what was worse the now open door led into the heart of the station where Dr. Ballentine and possibly other horrors waited.
Tapping his chest, Ramius wasn’t prepared to risk any more lives for his own personal agenda. He would capture Ballentine, but this time would do so by the book he so often ignored and the rules he tended to bend. “Ramius to Delta and Bravo Team.”
No response was forthcoming. Only static filled his ears. “Ramius to Delta team, respond over.”
“Ramius to Corsair.”
His inquiries were met with more static. A few marines attempted communications and were met with the same foreboding static.
“We’re being jammed”, one of the marines indicated.
Ramius’s teeth ground together now faced with another situation with poor options. Unable to call for backup his plan to reinforce his fighting strength by calling on greater numbers of marines for an all out rush on the station’s interior was now not possible due to the failure of communications. He couldn’t be sure if Bravo and Delta teams had been successful in securing their assigned decks. For all he knew they had met violent fates at the hands of similar experiments. He was left with only one alterative.
“I need two volunteers”, Ramius asked. “I need a small team to retrace our path and break free of this jamming field to warn the Corsair and reestablish communications with Bravo and Delta teams. Once achieved, I want all able bodied marines beamed aboard and to converge on the central core. The objective is to capture Dr. Artimis Ballentine unharmed, however, if resistance is encountered I want this station taken and secured at any cost.”
The marines were silent. No one wanted to volunteer for the assignment. The men were close knit and the request while vital seemed cowardly abandoning the team when the danger was at its peak.
Ramius could feel their trepidation and made the decision on their behalf. “You and you. Move fast and stay low. I’m counting on you both to raise the Corsair. Now go, you have your orders.”
The two marines, realizing Ramius was intent on pressing on without them, saluted their captain and fellow marines with the knowledge it could be the last time they saw any of them alive.
Ramius returned the salute. There was nothing more to be said as the men turned and quickly disappeared back into the lab to escape the jamming that was preventing communications. As soon as the men were gone, Ramius pulled his nearly exhausted energy cartridge from his rifle and tossed it to the floor jacking in a fresh energy cell and checking his rifle’s settings.
“We can’t stay here”, he said with a somber tone. “There are too many of those experiments still in those tubes which could be released at any time. We don’t have the firepower or the numbers to hold off all of them. We’re pressing ahead. With some luck we will fair better searching for Dr. Ballentine until communications are restored or until the Corsair can provide reinforcements. Are there any questions?”
“What about the fallen”, the alpha team’s commander asked his voice somber.
“We will have to leave them for now. As soon as the station is secured I promise we will return to retrieve and honor those that have fallen in the line of duty.”
While still alive, the high price of victory has quieted the marines, whose fallen comrades were grim reminders of the danger they had experienced and which also now lay ahead.
“Fall out”, Ramius ordered. He took the point position exposing himself to the greatest danger and risk leading the marines through the opened doorway into the dark heart of the station to confront whatever dangers and secrets it protected.
[ To Be Continued… ]
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Captain Taverain Ramius
Commanding Officer, USS Corsair
