Jer Patch
patreon
Chapter 25: Hellions Landing, Time to Find a Scientist
🕑 Added 2025-02-07 16:00:04 +0000 UTCThe first warning that something was wrong was when no one flagged the shuttle down as it circled overhead. John called me up front from where I stood in the back, talking with Hawk and Denver. The trip to the compound had taken more travel time than time spent on the ground. Soon after we landed, Hawk, Denver, Doc, and Jimmy loaded everything they could in inventory crystals from Sang, and off we went. Now we were circling the scientist’s settlement, and nothing was moving.
I studied the drop ship on the ground as we circled again, just to be safe. Creatures in this area of the jungle were meaner, tougher, and higher-level than those around the colony or the compound. They kept right around 20 to 25, which could be a problem. I didn’t want to hit level 25 and trigger my teleportation before the shuttle made it to the other dropship.
At first glance the fence was intact, but something was missing. A few seconds went by before I grimaced.
Crystals.
All the crystals were gone.
We’d done something similar at the compound, though we’d left two at the entrance to the dropship in case someone wandered by and needed a safe space to sleep. One never knew.
All the others were in the cargo hold, taking up a bunch of space, but Sang said it was worth it and I believed her.
“Nothing’s moving in the trees,” said John, his hands on the controls. “I’ll keep the wings hot.”
“I’ll have a few people guard the back,” I replied.
He nodded at my comment as I marched back to the rear cargo hold. “Maggie, can you guard the rear of the shuttle? We might not be here long.”
She unbuckled herself and followed. Sang stayed put, along with Abby.
Hawk, Denver, and Jimmy waited next to the ramp, weapons out and ready to go. I gave Hawk a nod.
Everyone else crammed together in the cargo hold. Space was tight.
The back ramp lowered, and I held my rifle in my hands, ready to go. Before the shuttle hit the ground, I darted forward. Hawk went to the left, and I went to the right.
“Clear and intact,” called Hawk.
“Same,” I answered as I marched to the drop ship entrance. This ship had landed more than crashed, which had been a stroke of luck for them. It was the only one that’d stayed in one piece in Sanctuary. After landing, the scientists had replaced the airlock with a metal one that latched with a narrow slit to see through. It stayed closed as I approached.
Normally, the runs out here to visit the scientists involved people happy to see us and our foodstuff. Jimmy raced at the door, bow ready. He waited until I nodded and opened it using the latch.
My gun pointed directly into the opening, but nothing moved. Darkness reigned inside the ship and I paused.
“No signs of life or light.”
Hawk approached with small, glowing crystals. He tossed one to me, and I hung it around my neck.
Then I entered.
The first room looked the same as the last time I’d visited, except the second door was open. The two doors kept out as much dirt and dust as possible, given the next room. I stepped into the lab, frowning. All the machines that had hummed last time were silent. The five intact glass tubes on the far wall were emptied.
The crystals supplying power to the artificial wombs were gone.
Hawk entered behind me and I crept deeper into the ship, heading through the next open door and down the hallway. Each office and smaller lab space was the same. No people or crystals.
Finally, I opened one of the few shut doors which led to her office. The desk sat near the door, with nothing on it. The glass dividing the small desk area from the lab space showed the lab was completely cleaned out. Nothing on the tables, nothing in the glass tube, and the shelves were bare.
She was gone, and didn’t even leave a note. I almost slammed a fist into a wall.
Hawk waited for me in the main lab. “It doesn’t look like there was a struggle.” He motioned to the chairs pushed in neatly. “No blood or anything in the back?” He asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing. They just packed up the crystals and all their research.” The datapads they’d gotten working a month ago were also gone.
“I’ll double check.”
I waved him on and waited.
Fifteen minutes later I made it back out to the sunlight. Everyone was gone, and I meant everyone, and without a note. Hawk and I had even checked all the lockers in the bunk room.
“What do you think happened?” asked Benny, with a worried look on his face. He twisted his hands back and forth. “She wouldn’t have left without a word.”
“Yes, she would have,” I growled, pissed that no one had left a note. “I bet someone found the tunnel, and who knows what else. They didn’t want to stay here, we knew that, and several of them were pretty close to the 20 cap.”
“But she wanted to see…”
“Her research is always more important than anything else. It always has been.”
“Exactly, we were working on researching seed mutations to see what else we could do to grow food,” he explained. “She fit it in when she wasn’t working on the womb project, but she was interested in the outcomes.” He paused, then glanced away from me. “At least, I thought she was.”
My fists tightened up, and I slowly released them. Benny didn’t deserve my anger. He didn’t deserve her leaving yet again. None of my kids did. “There is nothing here for any of us. We need to get into the air and…”
A roar rippled through the jungle outside the wooden fence, and something smaller squealed.
“Everyone, move!”
A group of people sat around the shuttle stretching and getting some sunlight in. At my command, everyone rushed up the ramp.
I jogged in the back, keeping my eyes on the far fence. Anything big rushing the barrier would snap it without a problem. Without the crystals, they wouldn’t even slow down if they were chasing something.
Within minutes we were in the air flying over the treetops.
The canopy trembled as something large passed by. It followed the sound of us in the air for a moment, then stopped.
Another fight avoided.
The longer John kept his level low, the better. It’d let him fly the shuttle in and out of Sanctuary airspace, which beat hiking through the jungle, especially if we wanted to share supplies with the colony.
“What’s the plan now?” asked Sang. “Not that it isn’t nice to not have more people to pack in with us.”
“Same as before, create a new home,” I said, though my voice came out softer than I’d have liked. “We’ll hit the third dropship. It has everything we need, and with you here, we can move supplies whenever we want.”
“Wait, you know where the equipment drop is?” she asked, jerking forward. The harness kept her seated. “The prefab houses, fencing, medical, workshop? That dropship?” Her questions came rolling out, which didn’t surprise me at all.
“Yes,” I said with a grin. “It’s outside Sanctuary.”
Rage crossed Sang’s face, and Maggie almost stood up, her hands on the bucket keeping her in. “That could have saved so many people! Why didn’t you tell us?” the crystal singer exclaimed.
John beat me to the punch, talking over his shoulder. “Would you really have wanted Xander to control the weapons inside that ship?” He snorted from the cockpit. “Not me.”
“… but the rest of it?” she asked sadly.
“Would mean Xander got control of the weapons.”
“That he couldn’t use,” she said with rising anger.
I raised my gun. “We figured out how to get my gun working, don’t tell me he wouldn’t have enticed you to work on getting the rest up and running.” I moved closer to the two women. “For defense of the colony, of course.”
Hawk chuckled before joining the conversation from the back. “Not to mention what’d happen at level 25, and leaving all we built behind. Because you know he would want to use everything immediately.”
That shut Sang up.
Abby, who sat next to her, patted her leg. “Those of us that knew made the call and kept it to ourselves, since it was clear he’d try to take control.” She turned to look at Maggie. “Now we can use it for our mission. The one we all got on the colony ship for. To create a real colony, one for all of us. Not just those that follow him like good little soldiers.”
No one knew how Xander had gotten one of the command posts on the ship. Bad luck had placed him in a leadership position, since everyone ranking above him had died in the spine of the colony ship. At least, I hoped it was bad luck.
“What about the scientists?” asked Doc from the back. “Why’d they leave?”
“Well, we all know that was the other faction on the colony ship.” I snorted, thinking of her. “They just wanted the ability to play god without Earth's ethical restrictions. Meanwhile, Xander’s people wanted to rule with an iron fist. That leaves the rest of us, who left for a better future.” I paused, glancing at all the people in the shuttle. “It’s time we had that chance.”
“Do you think any others will join us from the colony?” asked Cass, her voice soft in the stuffy shuttle.
“I don’t know,” I answered with as much honesty as I could. “The other leaders knew my plan and endorsed it. Well, obviously not Xander, but the rest. Ethically, they just couldn’t leave him unchecked. We’ve maxed out the weight on the shuttle.” I looked around at everyone crowded together. “As long as John doesn’t level, he can return and pick up others. We’ll also leave directions at the tunnel exit. That’s the area where you show up when you hit level 25.”
She nodded, looking a little more relieved.
“Our goal is to get to the drop ship and go from there.” Hopefully, Hammy still guarded it, and my ex-wife wouldn’t discover the ship and pillage the resources. Or, worse, run into Alex.
