The Karos Graveyard by Lancer

Published on Kiith Iopia on the 09 May 2001

This is just a story I daydreamed up. Well, lets see if I can write. Here goes:

350 A.L.

The science vessel Eletro moved in closer to the abandoned carrier. The Eletro was surrounded by abandoned, wrecked starships. The carrier was just one of many ships they were going to study in the graveyard. The Karos Graveyard. The Karos Graveyard was near a small asteroid belt; it was where unusable ships were tossed away. There were hundreds of wrecks drifting through space there. The science vessel connected with the carrier and soon some of the crew was looking through the old ship. The hull was cracked. The metal was dark, and cold. It was dark, very dark, inside the ship. Shadows filled it like water fills a bottle. The only thing penetrating the darkness was the lights on the space suits the crew was wearing. The lights followed the tunnel until it turned. Around a bend, just out of sight, something moved. It moved forward slowly, came around the bend, and toward the crew. Another and another followed it…

Reiff Entolite looked at the starship Universe. The ship towered over him, casting a shadow that extended across the launch platform, even though the sun was almost directly above it. He looked again at its mission list. For some reason an expedition to the Karos Graveyard had been pushed to the top of the list. It didn’t have much info on the mission, because it was labeled as confidential. However, once they were en-route to the graveyard they would get all the info they needed.

Something is going on up there, thought Reiff. Otherwise they wouldn’t bring in something like this. This is a floating gun, not a science ship.

Someone came up behind Reiff and glanced at the ship.

“Kinda hard to believe the old bird is goin’ up again, isn’t it?” asked Reiff.

“Yeah, it is,” answered Jeti Morila, Reiff’s first officer.

“Well, lets hope I still have some captain left in me,” said Reiff.

“Don’t worry,” Jeti replied.

More crewmembers came, and Reiff opened the access hatch to allow them to enter and get the ship ready for flight. Jeti moved into the ship and headed for the bridge. Reiff looked at the Universe for a few more seconds, and then he followed Jeti.

“Universe to launch control, come in,” said Reiff.

“This is launch control, go ahead.”

“Requesting launch to orbital vector 7-9-3-5-0.”

“Roger that, Universe. Vector confirmed. You are clear to launch.”

The Universe lit its engines and pulled off the launch pad, and headed into the sky. The clouds dropped beneath the ship as it pulled into the black starry expanse. There was a hum as the artificial gravity initiated. The ship was oriented to a non-existent down as it turned to point to the Karos Graveyard. Once it was pointing at the Karos Graveyard its engines went to full power and the ship rushed away from the planet.

Onboard the Eletro a crewmember sat huddled in a corner of the galley. The few lights that were still working on the ship made eerie shadows dance across the walls. The light was dim, and it flickered. As he sat there, silent as a rock, he heard a scraping sound. Something was moving down the hall to the galley. The galley didn’t have a working light in it, but the hall did, so he could see a little. A brown-green claw appeared at the door. It was about 2 feet of the ground. He guessed those things were only a few feet high, and might make them easier to take on. A head followed the claw, then the rest of the thing’s body appeared. It was a brown-green color, with spikes along its back. It had two large eyes, yellow in color. It was on four legs, and it stood about 4-5 feet high. It had a tail, with two very sharp spikes on them. It moved into the galley and looked around. Then, it shoved off with its two front legs and, using it’s tail for balance, looked around on two feet. It made a sound-the crewmember thought it might be sniffing-and looked around the galley, as if knowing something was there, just out of sight. After it finished surveying the room, it dropped back to all fours, and moved through the galley. It made a quick pass through the galley, then it left. The crewmembers shoulders sagged as he leaned back against the wall, pulling some stuff around him to form a crude sort of wall. Not that it would help.

“Coming up on the Karos Graveyard, sir,” said Jeti.

“Scan for the Eletro,” Reiff ordered.

“Scan complete. She is docked with a carrier at the far end.”

“Set a course.”

“Yes sir.”

The Universe came up alongside the Eletro in a few minutes. A crew was assembled in the bay of the Universe, preparing to leave to the Eletro. The boarding ship dropped out of the Universe and came up on the Eletro. The boarding ship attached to the hull of the science vessel, and the boarding crew blew a section of the wall in, allowing them to enter. The crew entered the science vessel and looked around. The light was very dim, so they had to use their suit lights. The walls were dented, and cracked, even though they could withstand thousands of pounds of pressure. There were scrapes along the floor, and roof. The scanners on the suits weren’t picking up any life signs. Then, the scanner saw got a small reading, coming from the galley. The crew moved quietly, but quickly, to the galley. Their suit lights cut the darkness, and they found one of the Eletro’s crewmembers, sitting behind some boxes. He was unconscious, but alive. Three of the boarding team took him back to the ship. The team continued to sweep the ship. They didn’t turn anything up; the ship was abandoned. It was just another wreck in the graveyard; just another ghost ship. The team headed back to the ship and flew to the Universe.

“Sir, detecting life signs!” shouted Jeti.

“Where?” asked Reiff.

“Onboard the carrier, but…”

“But what?”

“They are to big to be human.”

“What??”

“That’s what the comp says.”

“Maybe the comp is screwed up?”

“Only one to see if it is.”

“What is that?”

“Send someone in the carrier to see.”

“What? There isn’t some other way?”

“No, not that I or anyone else can see.”

“But if they aren’t human, what are they?”

“I don’t know.”

“Might a probe be able to do the job?”

“It might, if the signal can get through those carrier walls.”

“Put up relay probes to make sure the signal gets through.”

“Yessir.”

The probe drifted into the dark halls of the carrier. There was no light, so the probe was running on infrared vision. The probe sailed down a hall toward one of the signatures. As it approached a junction it paused. The junction was four ways, and there seemed to be the exact same signature down each of them. The probe moved forward and entered the middle of the junction, only to be destroyed by a large claw.

“What was that?!” yelled Reiff.

“Some form of life…” answered Jeti.

“Did the probe get any molecular parts of it?” asked a technician.

“Yes,” answered Jeti.

“May I have them?” the technician inquired.

“Why?” asked Reiff.

“To get an answer.”

Down in the makeshift science lab aboard the Universe, the few particles of the creature were being studied. The pieces had been enlarged enough to examine easily.

“I’ve seen this substance before,” said the lead scientist.

“What? Where?” asked Reiff.

“Not sure, but I’m checking everything,” was the reply.

The computer hummed and clicked as it looked through every biological record since the Hiigarans left Kharak.

“Found it,” the scientist said.

“What?”

“The…beast. It has the same chemical makeup.”

“What?” Jeti exclaimed.

“Yes, we are dealing with a new form of beast here.”

“But, how? The entire beast was destroyed,” said Reiff.

“Ah, that is where you are mistaken. Matter can not be destroyed.”

“Then what happens when a ship explodes?”

“It is merely converted.”

“Oh. So the entire beast is still out there?”

“In several different forms, yes.”

“Egads!”

“So, how do we beat these things?”

“Well…I don’t really know.”

“Contact Hiigara, tell them what we have here. I want troops up here fast!” ordered Reiff.

“Yes, sir,” responded Jeti.

Two Hiigaran destroyers with fighter escort and several boarding craft rushed toward the Karos Graveyard. They soon had a visual, on not only Karos, but on a Taiidan fleet moving in on it. The Taiidan put a COM jam over the whole area then moved in to attack the unaware Universe. Taiidani fighters began attacking the Hiigaran battle group, and keeping them from protecting the Universe. One boarding ship punched through the fighter screen and rushed toward the Universe.

“Fighters coming in!” shouted Jeti.

“What? Shoot, destroy them!” replied Reiff.

The Universe began shooting at the fighters as they came in.

The turret operators couldn’t keep up with all the fighter wings coming in, so most of the fighters got through for a clear shot.

“Multiple bogeys, closing fast.”

“I got incoming!”

“Watch their attack vector at 2-1-5-9-3!”

“Some coming from behind the carrier!”

“2-2-4-2 vectors, sector 3.”

“I got ‘im.”

“Watch it!”

Reiff finally shut off the audio to the turret control center. He didn’t want to hear about his ship being blown up. Suddenly the ship shook horribly, and Reiff fell to the deck. Jeti came over and helped him up. Then an auto warning said the ship’s hull integrity was dropping fast. Reiff and Jeti ran toward the escape pods for all they were worth. The pods held three people. So, Reiff, Jeti, and the science guy all climbed in together. Their pod fired out of the ship…and straight toward the carrier. The carriers mass created a weak gravitational field that pulled the pod into it. The pod crashed against the hull, the hull broke, and the pod was inside. Reiff, Jeti, and the science guy pulled on suits and exited the pod. Each one held a proton gun ready.

“We might find an exit faster if we split up,” said Reiff.

“Are you sure?” asked Jeti.

“The faster the better,” Reiff said.

“Well, if you say so,” answered Jeti.

The trio separated and moved down different halls, in search of an exit. Suddenly the carrier shook, and Reiff looked out into space. The Universe was a bright sphere of flames now, not an elegant old ship. Taiidan fighters raced about, shooting down the escape pods.

Jeti moved cautiously down a corridor. The corridor split two ways, and both were too dark to see down. Jeti thought he heard something down the right tube, so he went left. Moving through the tube was like looking at death. There could be anything in it. Rounding another corner, Jeti discovered the reactor for the carrier, fuel still inside.

The science guy walked down a small hall. It made a 90º turn. As he rounded the bend, he saw a shadow move in front of him. He opened fire down the hall, the blue bolts slamming into the walls, roof and floor. When he realized nothing was there he stopped firing. He heard something behind him, he whirled and let the towering monster have every bit of energy the gun could unleash. And it wasn’t enough. The science guy’s scream echoed through the halls.

Reiff’s eyes widened as he heard a scream. One of his crew had just seen one of those things. Reiff’s COM device crackled, and he heard Jeti’s voice.

“Reiff, get down to section 3, I found the reactor. It still has fuel.”

“I’m on my way, Jeti.”

Jeti took some of the power from his gun and tranferred it to the small charge he had just buillt. It contained enough fuel to blow through the wall of the reactor and make this ship go critical. Reiff was on his way, and soon would be safe while Jeti removed the beast threat for good.

Reiff ran down a hall and heard footsteps behind him. He turned a corner and ran on. He saw saveral pillars in one hall, they used to generate artificial gravity. He ran toward one and began to climb. He was just pulling himself onto the top when the monster caught up with him and began pounding on the base of the pillar. Reiff looked over the other side. He could get out of here by jumping 30 feet down to land on a catwalk below, but who knows what would be waiting for him. He heard a crack and looked back at the beast. It had used a claw to puncture the pillar wall, and was doing the same in other places. It was climbing up. Reiff saw he would only have a few minutes. He pulled out some string that could hold his weight and tied it a small projection on the pillar. Then he held on to the other end and jumped. He ran out of rope a good ten feet above the catwalk. He let go and dropped. His landing left something to be desired, but he was alive. He looked back at the pillar and saw a claw coming over the edge. He ran for it. He had gone about ten feet when he heard a clang and knew that the beast was right on his tail. The footsteps were getting louder. He was so close to a door at the other end. He whirled and saw the beast very close. He fired into the catwalk as he ran backwards. The beast stepped on one of the sections that had been shot and it caved away. But the beast’s reflexes were amazing. It was on the other side. Reiff shot another section away, and another. The beast backed up and took a running leap. It landed right in front of Reiff. The beast reared up to its full height and stared down at Reiff. Reiff smiled and pulled the trigger to his blaster. The shot hit, and the catwalk section caved away, underneath the feet of both. Reiff’s second rope caught him, and he pulled himself back up, then he jogged toward the reactor room. He came to the room and saw Jeti fitting a small makeshift bomb to the reactor.

“What are you doing?” asked Reiff.

“Blowing this ship away,” answered Jeti.

“Hurry, so we can get out of here,” Reiff urged.

“I’m not going,” said Jeti.

“Why?” asked Reiff.

“The bomb has to be triggered manually.”

“Isn’t there some other way?”

“No.”

“But, Jeti.”

“No! Listen, there is a Hiigaran battle group on the edge of Karos. Go and meet up with them.”

“Jeti, no.”

“Yes! Go!”

“Jeti…”

“Reiff, go.”

“But…”

“Just go.”

Reiff saw there was no hope of changing Jeti’s mind. He turned and ran to the hangar. He climbed in a ship and launched.

Jeti watched his radar and saw a ship leave the carrier. Reiff was gone. Jeti heard footsteps coming his way. He turned and saw a beast coming forward.

“Tell all your buddies that I hate ‘em,” said Jeti.

Jeti triggered the bomb.

Reiff turned and saw the carrier turn into a ball of flame. The main bridge snapped off and flew into space, as did a few other chunks. The flame dissipated, and Reiff knew Jeti, his old friend, was gone. He turned and flew back toward the Hiigaran battle group.