Twinks in Space: Destination Unknown - Part One - 22. Chapter 22 - The Dark Base

The image on the Cometskipper’s communication screen paused with the blonde girl’s face frozen in a look of sheer panic. The call disconnected.

“Are you going to help her?” Neptithia asked from the XG4 in Stawren’s hand.

“My ship wasn’t made to take part in a battle,” Fonith stated, looking out her ship’s window, “but a stealth search and rescue mission is right up our alley.”

“I’m getting you as much information from the other end of that call as I can.” Neptithia continued. “You’re headed to the second planet in the system. That white dwarf star is not gonna provide you much light when you’re on the surface. Let’s see…” she paused, “breathable atmosphere. Oh, and I’ll send you one of the base’s planetary scans with its location. Looks like the planet itself only has .3 level standard gravity, but the base has an artificial system that fluctuates between .8 and .9 Gs. I’m sending you a map of the base along with a set of blueprints, but they don’t match. I’m not sure which part of each is accurate and what’s not. Also, neither the schematic nor the map match the original plans that I was able to find before. My bet is you want to head for the two different labs or the oversized building that is reminiscent of an airplane hanger.”

“We’ll be arriving above the planet’s surface in eight minutes,” Fonith informed the others.

“I don’t see anything about defensive or protective measures,” Neptithia said. “I think this base is primarily relying on its secrecy.”

Lyoth looked out the window of the Cometskipper at the battle that was getting farther away as they traveled toward the planet. “Seems like its secret may be out. Fonith, we need some weapons.”

“Wait, wait,” Neptithia added excitedly, “there’s a prisoner log! It says the base is holding 43 prisoners. There are no names or any details about them, just 43 prison identification numbers.”

“Prisoners?” Phentrom replied under his breath.

Lyoth furrowed his brow. “Some sort of hidden black-site prison? I don’t like that one bit.”

“I’ve brought in a lot of bounties who deserve to stay locked up,” Fonith informed the others. “Maybe these assholes belong where they are.”

“I’m with Lyoth,” Stawren declared. “There’s something nefarious about the idea of a secret prison.”

Neptithia spoke up from the device, “I’ll let you go, kid, be safe!”

“Thanks, bye, auntie Thia!”

The line disconnected.

“Follow me to the armory,” Fonith ordered.

Stawren’s bow, quiver of arrows, and the new arrowheads she purchased in the City were waiting for her. Fonith equipped Lyoth with multiple bladed weapons, and she selected her favorite firearms, including her long-range precision blaster.

Lyoth took his beloved’s hand. “Phentrom, you’ll stay here with the Cometskipper.”

“And I’ll remotely activate the ship’s protective measures,” Fonith added.

When they returned to the bridge, the Cometskipper was less than two minutes away from dropping into orbit.

“Scanners indicate the base is on the far side of the planet. Looks like primarily rock with a few lakes,” and she pointed at shimmering black water against the jagged black landscape.

“Auntie Thia was right; there’s no light on this world.”

“And we’re going to arrive at the base while it’s on the planet’s night side,” Fonith added. “I’m going to start the descent early, far enough away so we at least won’t give off any visual signs that the base could see. I want to get through the atmosphere quickly and fly close to the planet’s surface.” There were few hills and no mountains, and Fonith was able to stay low. “Almost there. The Cometskipper can land on even the most uneven terrain, so we’ll find a nice secluded spot to tuck her away.” She piloted the ship between some massive boulders and set it down. “We are in the low gravity sector, so walking will be a little awkward until we enter the base’s perimeter.”

Lyoth, Stawren, and Fonith left Phentrom and sealed the starship. They made their way through the low gravity with awkward loping steps over the dark surface until they entered the range of the artificial gravity. Then they spotted a light. It was pale and pathetic against the dark, but it was the only illumination they had seen since arriving on the tiny planet. It was not a searchlight or a spotlight; it was simply a lamp above a doorway.

They headed toward the single source of light, creeping behind rocks and little rises in the land until they were at the corner of the building.

Fonith pulled up a map on her handheld display and pointed at the word laboratory. They were outside one of them. She looked around and pointed beyond where they were headed, at another building with a single door that also had a lamp light burning above the lintel. Fonith tapped at the barracks on her display map, and she motioned with her hand that they should keep away from the structure.

Lyoth nodded.

There was no way to see what was inside the laboratory. There were no windows and no other doors. Stawren looked from Fonith to Lyoth, and she shrugged. They each drew their weapons, and Stawren tried the door’s handle. It was unlocked, and it creaked quietly as it opened. Stawren winced.

The trio slipped inside, but they found no one within. What they did find was a functioning laboratory, in which the scientists had been experimenting on sentient species. Body parts were flayed, dissected, and preserved under glass.

“What in the gods…” Lyoth whispered through his teeth.

Fonith was scowling, and she jabbed her thumb back toward the door.

Lyoth and Stawren nodded, and the trio exited.

They crept through the base, keeping away from the barracks until they reached the second laboratory. The light above the door was on the fritz, and it flickered and blinked.

Stawren pointed across the base where a few people with flashlights were moving towards the barracks. The three waited until the moving lights were no longer visible, then they made their way to the door of the laboratory. Stawren brought her hand to the handle again, but before she turned it, the three of them heard a bloodcurdling scream.

Lyoth nodded and Stawren swung the door open.

The trio burst in and found the blonde girl strapped to a table with electrodes attached to the shaved side of her head. A pair of men and lab coats turned to the intruders in surprise.

Fonith fired stunning bolts from blasters held in each hand, and the two technicians dropped to the floor.

The child’s scream suddenly died and she spoke with a forced monotone.

“719BX47908.77 by 4369TR4W9.03X471 by 883.1FRZ72.8-9.44 by 9355TQ2.333-4XB72.119.”

She screamed again and started convulsing. Blood began to pour from her ears and nose. Her body went rigid and she fell still.

Lyoth rushed over and brought his fingertips to the girl’s wrist, but he shook his head at the other two. They were kneeling over the incapacitated scientists and checking their pockets for any information. Lyoth tapped Fonith’s shoulder and pointed at a computer monitor. He indicated that he would take over searching the body. He pointed at the pair of unconscious scientists and mouthed the words how long?

Fonith held up both hands with all 10 fingers, but she turned one palm flat and wiggled it to indicate an approximation.

Lyoth nodded and got back to work as she began to probe the computer for its secrets. He and Stawren both found identification cards and access badges on the two scientists. Fonith’s back was to them, but her two companions looked up at her when she let out a quiet gasp.

“Oh gods…”

Lyoth and Stawren stepped up behind her and looked at the screen. She pointed.

The words disturbed them.

9 successful precision wormhole test teleportations achieved.

1 successful precision wormhole teleportation achieved.

6 subjects frequencies depleted, resulting in the loss of subjects.

37 prisoners remain in captivity and ready for intracranial surgery and preparation of future jumps.

Approximately 55 jumps remain with current stock of prisoners.

“What frequencies are they using from people?”

Fonith pointed at the number 6 on the screen. “It said five a second ago, and it just changed.”

The trio looked over at the dead blonde girl.

“She’s the sixth person they’ve killed,” Stawren growled.

Without a word, Lyoth knelt between the scientists and slit their throats.

“I brought some plasma charges,” Fonith growled. “Let’s blow this godsforsaken facility to the ground.” She hid three of the explosives around the lab. She then pulled up the map of the base, pointed at the largest building, and nodded toward the door.

The three crept back out into the darkness and continued deeper into the base until the massive prison structure loomed before them. Again, a dim light glowed above a single entrance.

Stawren shoved the door open, startling a pair of guards who were standing just inside, but Lyoth was on them in an instant. His blades stuck into each of their necks and he grabbed one of them by the wrists, as Fonith grabbed the other’s hands, both preventing either of the men from alerting anyone of the attack.

Stawren stepped up and yanked Lyoth’s blades out of the guards’ necks and they collapsed. The trio found themselves standing in a hallway that went two directions, but there were no doors either way, and they could not see around the corners.

Lyoth pointed to himself and indicated one direction, and he indicated Fonith and Stawren, pointing them in the other. They split up and both made it to the corners. Taking a quick peek, they realized that both sides only led to two more doorless hallways. Lyoth followed one, and Fonith and Stawren followed the other, but the hallways formed a simple square. Lyoth peaked out around his corner to see Fonith and Stawren peeking out from the other side.

There was, however, a door at the center of that final hallway. As they approached, Fonith whispered, “Let’s make this quick.”

The other two nodded, and they threw open the door and rushed in. They found prisoners in cells. Fonith turned on a flashlight that she had not used yet, and she shined it from one cage to the next. All the captives were children.

“What in the name of all the gods is happening here?” Stawren asked under her breath.

“You’re… you’re not part of the Organization?” a little boy managed to say.

Lyoth stepped up to the bars. “No, we don’t know what that is. We came here to find out what’s going on and stop it if we can. What are they doing to you?”

“They’re using our brainwaves to control something,” a girl answered. “A few of the other kids survived the first experiment on them, and they told us what they heard the doctors say was happening. They didn’t survive the second time they were put through the experiment.”

“You have to get us out of here!” a girl shrieked from another cell.

Fonith leaned close to Lyoth and said under her breath, “The Cometskipper can’t hold 37 more people. What are we supposed to do with all of them?”

“The Ulaa-Lah,” Lyoth whispered back to her, “we need it, but we need to get it out of the hands of the mutineers first. How do we do both? How do we deal with the ship and save these kids before whoever’s in charge here finds out what we’ve done?”

“Godsdammit,” Fonith growled. “We’re going to have to leave them here.”

“No!” one of the children screamed. “You can’t leave us!”

“They’re going to kill us all!” another little voice squeaked in fear.

Lyoth reached out and touched Fonith and Stawren on the arms, and despite the rabid protests and cries of the children, the three left and made their way back along the halls to the exit where the two bodies were lying in a pool of blood.

The three warriors snuck out into the darkness again and headed back to the Cometskipper.

Before Fonith disengaged the ship’s securities, she asked, “Should I blow the lab?”

“Should we blow it?” Stawren answered. “I mean, this Organization will know we were there and might do something terrible to those kids.”

Lyoth sucked his teeth. “We killed four people. There’s no way for them not to know. Blow it.”

“I agree,” Fonith added, pulling out her remote trigger. “What they’re doing is horrible. They shouldn’t have this much power.” She set off plasma detonators and the trio heard the muffled boom.

They entered the Cometskipper and told Phentrom all that they had encountered.

“Fonith,” Stawren said, “I want to call my aunt again and see if she’s found out anything else, and I want to let her know what we found.”

“And get an exact location of the Ulaa-Lah from her so we don’t have to search for it,” Lyoth added.

“Will do,” she replied as she initiated the call.

Lyoth turned to Phentrom. “Do you trust Thrad?”

“I know he supported us when we were leaving the Ulaa-Lah,” Phentrom replied.

“Do you think he could be our man on the inside?”

Phentrom considered the question. “Interesting, I think he would be a good choice. He knows people’s secrets, and I think he’d be an unlikely co-conspirator for them to suspect.”

“That’s what I was thinking also.”

Stawren stepped up and informed the other three, “Just disconnected with auntie Thia. The word organization was too vague for her to pull up any more about the base, but here’s where the Ulaa-Lah is floating stationary in space.” She handed Fonith a paper with the positioning written down. “Auntie Thia even went in and overrode the ship’s security system. All their monitors are off-line to the ship-wide cameras. They’re blind.”

“She really is a sorceress with technology, isn’t she?” Lyoth commented with a chuckle.

Phentrom furrowed his brow. “Let’s go save Captain Suoki!”