Legend

Tolen attached a transducer to the doctor’s back, carefully listening for the instructions on where and how it should be positioned.

“That’s right,” Jenson encouraged. “That’s the right area.”

The young man applied the ’ducer to the doctor’s skin. He turned on the power to the unit that controlled the anesthetizing transducer. Tolen felt like he was performing in a dream. His hands did what the doctor told him to do, but he felt strangely separated from them. He shook his head to clear those thoughts and bring himself back to the moment. Concentrate on what Jenson is saying…concentrate. Jenson was trying to be comforting, but he was also asking a man who knew nothing about operations to slice into him; that cancelled his attempts to soothe and encourage.

“Tolen, are you all right?” Jenson said quietly.

“Yes,” he lied as he noticed how badly his hands were trembling. He was going to have to control that if he had hope of completing this, and despite his doubts, he did have hopes of that. He didn’t want to seriously injure the doctor. If there was a chance of safely completing this, he would not leave Jenson behind. Once more he could feel a shiver run through his body at the thought of haran eggs in a humanoid body. He could not condemn the compassionate and gentle doctor to such a horrible fate. Tolen also dreaded what he would see when he opened up the skin, and when he saw those eggs. He took a deep breath. He needed to settle his stomach now more than his hands. Just like biology class. But he remembered that’s where he found out how squeamish he was.

The lieutenant quickly pulled his mind from that. He had to concentrate on other things. He pushed himself to think over the instructions that Jenson had discussed with him before they began the procedure. The anesthesia unit was in place. Next, he was supposed to check to see if the anesthesia was taking effect. He had been so lost in thought he wasn’t sure how long it had been since he had activated the unit. However, Jenson told him it didn’t take long, and had encouraged Tolen to begin shortly after applying the anesthesia. Tobias was very hesitant about that though. He wanted to be certain that Jenson wasn’t feeling anything and not simply trying to be brave. So Jenson had instructed him on this simple method of checking the effectivity of the anesthesia. Tolen picked up a bluntly pointed instrument and hesitantly poked the doctor’s abdomen. There was no reaction. With a bit more determination, he tried again. Jenson said nothing and didn’t flinch. Tolen relaxed a small amount. So far what he had done seemed to be working as it should, but now he was going to have to cut on that skin. Once again, with more pressure he prodded Jenson’s flesh.

“I…think the anesthesia is working…”

“You did the test? I didn’t feel anything. Good. You are ready to proceed.”

Tolen picked up a sonic sterilizer. He had used it earlier to sterilize the instruments. Now he would be using it to sterilize the skin. There was some comfort in the fact that he had at least used this before. The lieutenant held the sterilizer against Jenson’s abdomen in the area that the doctor had instructed him would be his target when he made the incision; the bloody area was hard to miss. Jenson had already walked him through all the steps, carefully explaining the procedure to the apprehensive man. All the while he continued to assure Tolen that the instruments would do most of the work. All he had to do was guide them. Tobias didn’t believe it though. If it were that simple, why all the training required to be a doctor?

“Okay,” Tolen said. “Sterilization is…complete. I suppose.”

“You set the timer, right? You’re fine. Remember that we discussed the incision. You know the general area where the eggs are. There is the entry point, easily visible. Take the scalpel and begin the incision.”

The lieutenant picked up the adjustable laser scalpel. His hand was shaking. It seemed no matter how hard he tried to calm himself, he couldn’t get rid of all his nervousness or uncertainty. “I…I…don’t want to cut too deep.”

Gently, Jenson answered. “You won’t. Remember I helped you adjust the light blade to the correct setting for this. It will be fine. Go ahead and begin.”

Tolen wished he were facing an army by himself…or battling an entire pack of harans. Anything but this. He drew in a breath. Jenson was right. This was the only way. Tolen knew he couldn’t leave the doctor behind to die. He had to at least try. Drawing in a deep breath, he lowered the scalpel and began to cut into flesh. His stomach began to revolt as he watched the skin split open and smelled the odor of burning flesh as the laser scalpel cauterized the incision. He had to try to do this and not think about only about himself and what he felt. Think about Jenson and Daven and all the other people who need to be evacuated.

“I…I think I did it, Jenson.” The man blinked away the sweat that ran into his eye. “I can see into the abdominal cavity, like you said.” Think of it like an anatomical model. It’s all colored plastic…just like in the classroom. Deep breath. Think about helping Jenson, saving his life.

“Good,” Jenson responded calmly. “Now look at the scan for the two objects we circled. Look inside the abdomen for something the same size and shape. Slowly lift them out. Be certain. Remember they are not attached to anything. Whatever you try to remove should not be attached. If it is attached…don’t pull on it.” Jenson’s voice was controlled, even with the small joke.

“I don’t know how you can even try to be funny at a time like this,” the lieutenant sputtered in frustration. “This isn’t funny, Jenson.”

“Tolen, calm down. You’re right. It isn’t funny. If you’ll calm yourself, I’ll quit making jokes. I’m sorry. I’m trying to help you relax.”

“The only thing that is going to make me relax is to be finished with this. Wait. I think I have them.”

“Slow and careful.”

Oh so slowly Tolen lifted out the first small egg with forceps. Even though it looked like the scan, he was still afraid he might be mistaken. Tolen carefully looked the ovoid over, turning it round and round to make sure there was nothing connecting it to anything else in Jenson’s abdomen. He was so focused on making certain he had the correct object, that his nausea subsided somewhat. He breathed a sigh of relief. Then he looked a little closer at the odd object. Its covering was translucent. Through it he could see the faint outline of the dark embryo. It was moving around a bit, causing the outer covering to ripple. A shiver went up his spine and his stomach lurched. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes a moment. Just like biology class. Yes, he was sick and sweaty. Quickly, he opened his eyes, but didn’t look at the egg. He looked for the contained he’d placed nearby and dropped the egg in, pausing to take a few deep breaths, trying to drive the sick feeling down.

However, now that he had the first one, he was slightly more confident about the second…slightly, but no less sick. The egg was near to the location of the first egg. Carefully he lifted it out, but without looking more closely than he had to. Careful, you want to make sure you have the right thing, he admonished himself, and compelled himself to look at the oval. It rippled and he shut his eyes. Tolen didn’t want to see more than he had to. He was still revolted at the idea of this being inside a humanoid body…inside Jenson’s body.

Tolen placed the second egg in the container and quickly closed it. They were not due to hatch very soon, but he wanted no chances. By now he was weak in the knees and wanted very much to sit down.

“Good work, Tolen. Now all you have to do is close me up.”

“I…I…. I guess if I’ve come this far, I can do that…” his voice died off in his uncertainty. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply again, telling himself the worst was over. He didn’t have to look back inside the abdomen again, or see any more eggs.

“It’s not as difficult as you may think, Tolen. And besides as long as you get the incision closed, I don’t care what it may look like. You’ve already made the preliminary settings to the instruments. All you have to do is pull the skin together and seal it.”

Under the doctor’s very composed instructions, the lieutenant closed up the incision. He was skeptical about the job, but Jenson assured him that even if it had been harder to do than advertised, Tolen had closed it properly enough to keep his insides inside. Tobias glared at the doctor.

“I thought you said you would stop the jokes.”

“Sorry. It’s over with. You did it! I told you that you could.”

“I don’t have a good feeling about it.”

“I do. I think you did fine.”

“I just have one more thing to do,” Tolen declared. He took the container with the eggs into the adjoining dome to a research area with a ventilation hood. He opened the container and dumped the eggs into a sink. Drawing his low power blaster, he fired on the eggs to ignite them, not explode them. He passed his blaster back and forth until shriveled black masses were the only things left. Tolen let out a sigh of relief. He was very tired from the all the stress…trying to get Shepherd out of the dome they had been trapped in, cutting open another human body. His first instinct was to take a short nap, but he quickly changed his mind. There was still too much to do, and too many lives depending on him.

Tolen moved Jenson’s bed next to where Daven lay, and paused for a look at his partner. He was showing the effects of the toxin, but at least his fever had stopped increasing. That was encouraging; Daven was stable.

“Tolen, Nerrin had the parts to repair the transport,” Jenson said. “He went into the large storage area adjacent to the docking bay to get them.” He paused. “I had to…trap him and his men in there to stop them. I opened the outer doors to keep them from being able to get back into the station,” he finished quietly.

The lieutenant walked over and looked down at the gentle man. Jenson had been trained as a doctor. He was used to saving lives, not taking them. “You did the right thing, Jenson. If you hadn’t stopped them they would have hurt many others.”

“I know, Tolen. Logically I know I did the right thing. It did save lives. Still…” his voice trailed off. “I’m not certain where in the storage facility the parts are, but you should be able to locate them, if you find…Nerrin’s body.”

“Thanks. I’ll hurry. We need to get away. Call me on the comlink if you need me.”

Remembering what Jenson had said about having to open the outer doors to the storage building, Tolen bundled himself in his cold weather gear and started down the passageway from the docking bay. He was tiring. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping him going. The lieutenant was not entirely surprised to find the door controls jammed. He quickly found the equipment inventory, so prominently posted, and as he suspected he would, found a cutting torch, which he would use to cut an opening in the jammed door. When he finished, he waited a moment for the edges of the cut to cool and then Tolen stepped through and looked around. The outer doors were opened. Snow and wind blew through them. Drifts had begun to form against machinery, cabinets, and a couple of figures in the floor.

Tolen walked slowly over to see what these unknown things were. As he closed the distance, he looked around. It was so quiet in here, except for the wind blowing in. There was an eerie feeling about the huge room. The man chided himself for his attitude, but after all he had been endured a lot of activity and stress in a short time. His nerves were taut and any sound made him feel only tenser. Tolen gently kicked snow away from one of the figures with his boot and then looked in shock at the two open eyes of Nerrin staring unseeingly at him. The unexpected find caused him to flinch at the appearance of the body, and the thought of dying that way.

Another body was several meters from Nerrin. Tolen glanced around trying to decide where in the huge facility to begin looking. That’s when he saw the third body. Prade, in his confidence that Nerrin would take care of them, had been trying to get at the equipment while his boss fought with the door controls. He was slumped against a storage cabinet. The lieutenant began to walk down a corridor formed by two lines of cabinets. He stopped when a sound caught his attention. He froze in place and looked around wildly. There was no one else in here he told himself. How could there be? It must just be the sound of something settling, or expanding in the cold. Carefully he pulled Prade’s body away. Which cabinet though? There was no choice. He’d have to begin to open them all.

Tolen began with the cabinet the man had been slumped against. There was much useful equipment there, but not what he needed to repair the electrical bus. However, he stuffed a couple of tools into his jacket pocket. The man accidentally knocked some other tools to the floor and jumped at the echoing sound that they made. Calm focus he told himself. But Tobias stopped now and again to look around. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something else in the storage facility. But everyone else was sick. It couldn’t be a person. His blood ran cold at the thought of the haran, but would it survive this cold? The young man told himself he was just being jumpy and urged himself on…with one last glance around.

After three or four more storage cabinets, Tolen began to get anxious. Had he made a bad assumption that this man was in the right area? He may have been trying to seek shelter from the invading weather. He didn’t have time to search the entire huge structure. Then Tolen rebuked himself. He closed his eyes to concentrate to see if his senses would reveal anything to him. He always tried to pull away from sensing too many things, so he hadn’t thought about using that ability; and generally he only tried to sense people.

Tolen opened his eyes and looked around carefully, not being able to sense much at all. Then it occurred to him that he had only looked on one side of the artificial corridor. He turned and looked at the other side, and it seemed so obvious to him. He wasn’t sure why, a hunch. He used his blaster to cut through the locking bolt and opened the door. There inside was one location that Nerrin had used to stash the electrical supplies and equipment that he’d been hoarding.

The lieutenant looked over the contents and carefully chose the parts he would need to make repairs. If there were extras of any part, he took those as well. The noise made by his shuffling through the parts unsettled him with the loud echoing sounds. Also, he was ever mindful of the unpredictable haran still on the loose. Tolen looked around once more. Then quickly he filled his pockets with the smaller things and stuffed larger items inside his jacket. His shaky hands were clumsy and he kept dropping the smaller items. Tolen rebuked himself. It was true he was tired and that was stealing his focus. Still, he had to be more careful. He couldn’t afford to damage anything. Then he hurried out without looking back at the three stiff bodies.

Tolen was grateful for every course he ever had in transport operation, machine arts and electronics. He would never again complain about being given a complex repair to resolve. When such things became part of his training for this job, Tobias had questioned it, and questioned the answers he’d been given. He hadn’t understood how being an investigator combined with transport repair. Though he’d come to understand more completely after field work, this situation absolutely drove the lesson home for him. If any other trainees needed to be convinced, he was the man to do it…now.

The repair had taken longer than he anticipated. That was partially due to his weariness and stress. Tolen tried to keep himself calm, but he was only humanoid and his body was beginning to give in to all he had endured this day. His hands were shaky. The lieutenant kept dropping tools, and his trembling hands made it harder to do finer work on the electronic bus. He became frustrated, which only added to his difficulties. Also, he still imagined he heard all manner of sounds. Creaking, groaning. It had to be, perhaps, the ventilation system or some other machinery. There was no one else wandering the installation…except the haran. Tolen pushed that from his mind and tried to concentrate on his work.

When the lieutenant had a new bus in place, he hurried to the cockpit to test the repair. First, he ran an operations check on the instrumentation; everything checked out. It would be upsetting to have made the repair incorrectly and short everything because the instruments weren’t telling him he was overheating. Then Tobias performed continuity checks on the wiring, looking for any loose connections or poorly made joints. That test went well.

Tolen drew in a breath and turned on the main power switch. Everything came up to its operational power level, and all instrumentation was reading in the nominal range. The repair was successful! The man ignited the engine as the last test. It was running smoothly and in acceptable range. He sighed deeply in relief and powered all systems down.

“Are you all right, Jenson?” Tolen asked as he entered the infirmary.

“Yes, fine. I was just resting. You did well, Tolen,” he carefully laid a hand on his abdomen.

“I’m happy it worked out, but I do hope I never have to do that again.”

“I hope you don’t have reason to,” Jenson responded with emphasis. “Were you able to find the parts?”

“Yes. The transport is repaired and working. I checked the weather, and though it’s rough, it’s much calmer. I don’t think we are going to get better conditions. We can get out of here.” He paused and glanced around. “I have to start getting all these people on board.”

“I wish I could help you. You’ve been through a lot today.” The doctor clinically observed the worn lieutenant. “Are you sure you can do this? Perhaps you need to rest first.”

“Right now I have enough adrenaline to move the research station. I just want to be away from here, and away from that creature. The closer I get to being able to leave, the better I feel. Just relax. I’ll start moving everyone.”

Tolen had overestimated himself. His adrenaline was helping him quite a bit, but he had to admit he was beginning to lose strength and energy. By the time he got Shepherd and Jenson, on the transport, the young man had to sit and take a break.

As he had moved Shepherd into the transport, the man opened his eyes and gave a weak smile. “Good, Tolen. Proud.”

Tolen smiled, but knew he didn’t have much time. He responded, “Get some rest” and hurried out of the cabin. There was only one more person to secure for flight. He had to hurry. We’ve got to get out of here…soon.

As he settled the doctor into a reclined seat, Tolen muttered in a weary voice, “So close. All I have to do is get us out of here.”

“Careful, Tolen,” Jenson replied. “You’ll make mistakes in such a tired state. I want to be away too, but you do need to rest a bit.”

“Just a couple of minutes. When we are in hyperspace, I can go on automatic pilot. Then I can rest.”

The haran had felt the moment that her eggs had been destroyed. She had heard the cry of the embryos and felt their pain. She was enraged and cried out in agony herself. The creature must take her revenge on the one responsible for this. It had to be one of them; those other creatures were the only other ones she had seen in this large room with the craft in which they had arrived. Yes, it had to be one of them. The remembrance of them only brought blind rage to her. Already she loathed them. Now her hate deepened out of vivid instinct, the instinct to protect her young. The hate energized her and urged her on to find the killers. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her, strengthening her for the moment she would attack. They must pay…they must. The haran began searching through the station to find them. The creature didn’t know which one had killed her babies, but it didn’t matter. She would kill the first one she came to, and any others who may come to fight her. If necessary, they would all die. Perhaps not all. She still had to have a host for eggs.

The creature had wandered through the domes and crawled through her tunnels, seeking the men. Finally…finally, she heard a voice. She had found them! A new wave of rage swept over her. Now was the time. Now she would kill; they would pay. Blind, angry drive took over. The haran quietly edged up. That’s when she saw one of them, pushing something long and white before him. He disappeared up the ramp of the ship. She watched from a dark hiding place but the man didn’t come back. He could not elude her so easily.

“I’d better get us out of here,” Tolen said as he stood.

“Are you certain that you don’t want to take a longer rest?” the doctor studied Tolen’s drawn face.

“I can’t. I’ll rest later. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” But his body was beginning to wear down after all he had been called on to do this day. Tolen walked out of the cabin and alongside the transport, heading aft. He was going to do a walk down of the transport before he left, to be certain that there was no other damage, accidental or intentional. He had already had a look inside and satisfied himself that Nerrin and his cohorts had done no further damage to the transport. It was obvious that Nerrin wanted to cripple the ship to slow them down. He couldn’t afford to destroy his only way off the planet.

Almost ready to go. Just need to check a couple of things and then we can get out of here. Not too soon for me! If the ship checks out then all I have to do is take off…and the worst of this nightmare will be over. We’ll be safe. I can rest. All that I’ll have to do is just monitor the ship and get us back to Genoa. Almost safe.

He rounded the rear of the transport. That’s when he heard the noise. Snapping and snarling. I’m hearing things again. Just like in the storage facility. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he heard the noise again, and he realized he wasn’t only hearing things. The lieutenant whirled around in time to see the haran come out from behind a crate. The reptilian looking creature’s dark scales gleamed in the bright light. Her dark eyes narrowed; she was much more accustomed to living in the shadows. Venom dripped from her long, bared fangs. It was just as Tolen had always pictured it from all the horrible stories he had heard as a child. It was the stuff of which nightmares are made. And as he remembered those dark dreams, a shiver echoed through his body; waking up in the black of night after dreaming of a haran chasing him. Now it was really happening.

The creature scurried toward Tolen and started to leap at him. Tobias could feel the awful cold evil of the creature; the hate aimed at him. He could feel her intention to attack. He had enough time to draw his blaster and bring it up. The haran leaped as he fired, but it was a glazing hit. The creature shrieked and fell away. She wasn’t hurt, but more furious at her attacker. She ran back toward the crate. Tolen fired, but the shot bounced from the scales on her back. They were dense enough to repel the shot, but she turned to glare at Tolen.

He couldn’t let her go back into hiding. As long as she had that advantage, he would never be rid of the threat. Tolen knew he had to end this now. Yes, his plan was to leave, but he was going to be flying a ship that had been repaired, and could still have problems he hadn’t detected, or his repair may not last long. Instinct told him to kill and be certain the threat was gone. He ran, circling around the haran and firing toward the crate to drive her away.

The creature hissed and snarled at him. Her eyes darted around looking for another hiding place. Tolen watched the dark eyes as he also tried to sense the creature’s intentions. The transport. He couldn’t let it get inside. He didn’t know if he could stop it from attacking the passengers, or how long it might take him to get the haran off the craft. Certainly he couldn’t leave with it.

Suddenly, the haran leaped at him again, this time low, hoping to come under the blaster. Tolen saw the move in time to compensate and fired low, hitting the creature’s belly. The shot didn’t ricochet and the haran screeched in pain. It hit the floor and slowly got its feet under it. Without hesitation, the animal began scurrying away. The lieutenant ran. He knew her vulnerable spot now; he was determined to keep her in the open so he could effectively attack. And he was able to cut off her escape.

The scaly monster hissed again in fury. Now that she was wounded, she was more aggressive. Also, she realized that her escapes were being cut off. She would have to fight instead of hide. She kept her head low, trying to protect her belly. The haran turned to run. Tolen again made the move to circle around and cut off the escape. The creature dove at him as he came around.

Tolen yelped. He had not been bitten though, just scraped by the long claws of the beast. He shoved the haran away as soon as she scratched, and he brought up his blaster to fire. As the body flew away, she was completely exposed and he got off several shots, continuing to fire as the body hit the ground, shots glancing off the scales. Tobias stopped shooting, but didn’t lower his blaster. He was panting hard and shuddering. He stood that way for long seconds, and finally let out the breath that he’d been holding. Finally…it was all over. The whole nightmare of Tellous was over. He just wanted to get away and forget the whole incident.

Tolen hurried to the cockpit and ignited the engines. Then he hurried down the ramp to open the overhead doors of the docking bay. Snow swirled in. He ran as fast as he could to get to the warmth of the ship. As he stepped past the entryway, he hit a button to raise the ramp and close the door.

The young man strapped himself into the pilot’s chair. Slowly the transport lifted from the floor. He guided it up and through the opening. With a sigh of relief, he pushed the throttle forward, pointed the nose up and began to climb out of the atmosphere. Soon they would be to Genoa…home. And what a story he would have to tell. Harans were real! They weren’t just the substance of story and myth. Wait until he told his friends. They wouldn’t believe it and assume it was the usual braggart exaggerations after a mission. That thought made him grin.

Then an all too familiar noise brought his attention back. The snarling of the haran! He couldn’t believe it. Tolen leaned over and looked down the corridor. It was coming toward the cockpit. He couldn’t let it in here! If it damaged a critical control…. He leaped to his feet. First he informed the autopilot to maintain course and speed, and then he ran out of the cockpit.

The dark monster was crawling along, leaving a trail of dark blood behind. How was it able to keep going after the injuries he had dealt it? No time to try to understand that now. He had to kill it…really kill it this time. Tolen drew his blaster.

The creature stopped walking, but opened its mouth wide as it let out a hideous shriek. She launched herself at once, high and hard. Tolen saw the open mouth with long fangs coming toward his face. He held his position and fired into the haran’s open mouth.

The dark scaly thing screamed in pain as it hit the floor. Slowed little by its new wound, the haran turned for yet another attack. Tolen was amazed at the apparent strength and resilience of this creature. He set himself, waiting to see what it would do next.

She ran at the lieutenant, again mouth wide. Tolen leaped to keep from getting bit, but his foot came down in the pool of dark blood and he slid down, blaster clattering away from him. At once the haran leaped on him. Tobias brought his knees up and reached out with his hands. The creature landed on him, mouth open wide. Tolen was able to grasp its neck and hold it back from biting him. He drew in a breath and tried to work his weary body into enough strength. Using hands and feet, he threw the haran off him and at once began reaching for his blaster. He didn’t know where it was and had to look away from his attacker to find it. There it was, between him and the haran. He pushed off the wall of the narrow corridor with a booted foot. The haran’s copious blood lubricated his path and he slid within reach of the weapon. The creature was about to leap again. He pressed the trigger back hard into continuous fire mode. Her belly exploded from the close quarters attack. The monster stopped in mid-flight and hit the floor immediately next to him. He had stopped fire but held the weapon on the beast, not daring to move or to believe that it was dead.

He didn’t know how long he waited, but it seemed like a lifetime. He knew it was minutes, at least. Tolen rolled onto his side, not taking his eyes off the thing, nor lowering his blaster. He crawled away from it, still doubting its death, and collapsed into a tired heap to rest for another minute.

Still he was not finished. Tolen could afford no more surprises. Slowly he got to his feet and dragged the creature to the rear of the transport and to a hatch. He opened it and lifted the dead carcass into it. The lieutenant slammed it shut and then hit a switch, which opened a hatch on the outside of the craft. The haran fell away into the darkness of space.

Tobias leaned against the wall and drew in some deep breaths. At last, for certain this time, the monster was gone. Tolen began to walk determinedly toward the cockpit to set the course for Genoa. Now he knew they were safe.

Tolen and Daven had been waiting…not very patiently to see the president of Galactic Ore. If what Jenson had told them was true, then someone in the management of the company must be aware of the haran and of Nerrin’s plan. Shepherd had a feeling that the reason they were being kept waiting was because the management was trying to gather their cover story for what Nerrin had been doing.