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7/27/2019 Medusa Dawn
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MEDUSA DAWN
A Short Story
by
RICHARD HOLLIDAY
2013
www.richardholliday.co.uk
(7,338 words)
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The sight of the rocket terminal grew to dominate Jessie's eyes as
the transit car erred ever closer. With a deep breath, partly of
excitement and partly of trepidation, the young girl prepared herself
for blastoff. It wouldn't be long.Clouds of dust, refracted by the heat of the atmosphere, billowed
over the curved translucent resin that formed the roof of the transit
car. It roared ceaselessly across the dry, baking Venusian landscape
leaving the Colony City long-disappeared and the spaceport and
shuttle growing like a sole metallic tree on the horizon.Silence filled the transit car as the occupants, three specially-
selected tourists and their entourage swept into the spaceport. One of
them, an older man, turned around in his seat to look at Jessie.
"Looking forward to it still?"Jessie was daydreaming, her attention lost on the scorched dirt
outside. It took a second for her father's voice to register and her body
to turn back. "Oh? Oh yeah. I can't wait."Jessie's father smiled. "You're in for quite a treat up there."Indeed, she and her friends were, as they'd been specially
nominated to tour the brand new Medusa Platform space-station that
had been constructed near the planet, and billed as a 'world off-world'.
Nothing more had been said, and even though Jessie's father worked
for the corporation that had built the station, Medusa Corp, she'd
been told nothing except to prepare for quite a surprise.Either her father was the God of Marketing or maybe the claims,
that the very fabric of space-time had been finally bent to Mankind's
whims, were true. As with her simultaneous excitement and
trepidation, Jessie's mind remained indecisive of how it should feel. As
the transit car fell into the dark shadow of the spaceport, Jessie's mind
picked a side. She'd be excited and hopeful; optimism coursing through
her veins like a drug and allowing her to relax, something she thought
she would never do in a spaceport.Jessie had landed on Venus in this very spot when she was barely a
child and had hated the trip. A mixture of gravity strengths, some
variations never announced, made her almost perpetually sick and the
solar turbulence that buffeted the rocket-shuttle like a paper plane in a
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breeze helped things to no amount. Space-flight still relied too much
on blind luck for her liking, even two and a quarter centuries after her
species first outings into the great black void, and she avoided it where
possible. Venus and Colony City could be claustrophobic and
depressing sometimes, but it was firm ground, the sort Jessiepreferred.
With a swoop, the transit car was plunged into darkness as the
colossal metal structure of the spaceport enveloped it completely.
Seconds later there was a flash of bright blue light and with a
sssshhhlllppp the transit car was within the spaceport's environmental
containment field. The unrelenting, harsh weather of the Venusian
landscape was kept at bay at this molecular barrier, and the sense ofclaustrophobia inside the transit car was alleviated quite considerably
by the echoey cavern of the lower spaceport. As the molecular barrier
flexed around the transit car before snapping back to place with the
flash of energy., the roof retracted. Instantly the cool breeze caught
Jessie's flowing brown hair and it fluttered behind the transit car like a
scarf before it fell with the deceleration of the car."It's been a while.." Jessie mouthed to nobody in particular as she
climbed out of her transport and followed the group ad they hurried
busily toward the elevator to the space lobby. Her father cleared his
throat."Come on, Jessie. The shuttle'll not wait for you!" he barked
impatiently as his daughter reminisced about her previous time in this
place. Things had changed a lot, and her mind was absorbing and
comparing every nook and cranny from her last visit a decade ago. The
changes, Jessie decide, were not for the better."Coming dad..." she mouthed, finding herself again and rushing
into the elevator. Her skip was timed absolutely perfectly with the
descent of the door. Knowing dad, she thought, he could make the
shuttle wait. He knows people.Jessie felt crammed into the small box. It would have been an
uncomfortable trip had her friends Frantik and Barro not agreed to join
Jessie on the inagural tour. Frantik, her fiery hair frizzy and
voluminous, eyed the inside of the elevator impatiently. Barro was
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stockier and shorter and examined the floor uninterestingly. It seemed
they all wanted to get the transference portion of the trip over as soon
as possible.The skylobby was situated about twenty stories up and was
constructed in a great circular room that jutted from the main bulk ofthe terminal building on all sides, overhanging the edges of the tower
both below and above. These edges were like giant cut diamonds;
formed of perfect windows that gave an impressive vista of the planet
surface. Jessie casually looked around at mile after mile ofdust.Living in dustfor a decade softens one's awesome reaction at the
sight of it from this perspective. She huffed to her friends with that
fact before walking through the busy space lobby toward the gate.Thirteen.
Stars hung in the blackness of space like infinite motes of light as
the shuttle craft roared toward the Medusa Platform. A bulging
plexiglass window was all that separated Jessie from the endless
vacuum of the void and the cramped, claustrophobic shuttle cabin.
Claustrophobia and space travel were easy bedfellows to Jessie. While
there were individual seats, occupied by individual passengers, and
housed in a pressurised hull, they were unlike the jet airliners of
ancient history. Passengers were unable to mill around the cabin, or
breathe the air freely, but were confined to pressure suits that both
protected them from harsh solar radiation but also the G-forces of
space travel.Jessie felt cocooned in, and struggled to relax. This is why I hate
space travel, she thought to herself, though she needed no reminder.
With another dejected sigh she looked out of the window, past her
distorted reflection against the darkness of the void around her. The
Platform had dipped behind the great mass of Jupiter and fell into
shadow. The darkness became absolute. Jessie glimpsed a light, unlike
the stars that fell into backdrop around her, in the corner of her eye
and it took focus just as she was about to join her friends in boredom-
induced slumber.The light came from the edges of a metal disc about the size of an
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asteroid, positioned far away. The light shimmered into the very
essence of space around the edges of the disc, but the disc itself
remained darkened and eerily mysterious. The shuttle craft
approached the landing stage near the centre of the disc, past the
lettering spelling out the name of the station that were picked out inoutline with miniature star-like lights and as the great disc got close
enough Jessie could see that where the light shimmered gently and
rhythmically into space she could see what looked strangely like
walkways and avenues that seemed to follow the contours of the light
and faded into nothingness as they fanned out into space. There was
movement, too; of fountains and billboards andpeople. Jessie gasped,
but with a sudden bump the view was gone as the shuttle entered thelanding stage with a low, grinding rumble before stopping.
Air hissed and the pressure suits were released from the grips that
held Jessie and her friends firmly to the seats. Finding her feet once
more, Jessie floated in the reduced gravity toward the door. Her
anxiety had been replaced, as the spaceflight ended, with fresh
excitement and an eagerness to explore whatever it was she'd just
seen.Jessie's feet resonated with metallic clunks through the hull of the
docked shuttle and toward the gated threshold. This led into an
antechamber that the tour group was directed to wait in. A suited
executive and a couple of men in hazmat suits waited by a desk. Jessie
was the last one through the door from the shuttle and it snapped shut
behind her."Glad you couldfinallyjoin us, Ms. Lormitz," the executive said
nasally in Jessie's direction, without humour. He looked through his
thin spectacles right into her very being. He then turned to the rest of
the group, addressing them as a whole. "Welcome to the Medusa
Platform, and congratulations on being awarded places on the
inaugural tour. My name is Melin Gomex, the marketing director of
Medusa Corporation, and you'll have the pleasure of my company for
the duration of the tour. Don't worry," he laughed insincerely, "you're
in safe hands today."The two workers in protective suits stepped forward toward the
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group, the members of whom took an involuntary step back. Gomex
sought to reassure them."Don't be alarmed, also. We're decontaminating guests on arrival
from outside space or planetside. A sanitary station is a happy
station!"One of the techs, whose name badge read as Albo Parcus, spokethrough his mask. "Step forward and through the decontamination
arch. One at a time, please."The group followed the instruction and stepped through a narrow
gap in the wall ahead that led to a door. A shimmering field of particles
defied gravity almost and filled the narrow passageway. As each guest
walked through, edges of the energy field lapped around theirextremities, brightening the passageway. Jessie looked into the
constricted opening, past the decontamination field and into a wide
opening on the other side of the door. Taking a breath, for she hated
small, confined space, she jumped through the field and fell onto the
floor on the other side."We did say to step through the decontamination field, Miss,"
Parcus dryly said, watching as Jessie picked herself up and looked
about the space she was inside now."Oh wow," Jessie sighed with awe. "Wow indeed."A grand fountain, over three stories high dominated the centre of
the space Jessie found herself in. It was a total contrast to the cramped
shuttle and claustrophobic decontamination room; a pillar of crystal
that shimmered with an abundance of airy, soothing light. The disc the
shuttle had passed on its way in was merely the profile of a great
spherical construct of which the fountain was at the very heart of.
Looking up, Jessie saw the total darkness of outer space through a
translucent portion of the sphere wall that formed a perfect
transparent dome above the fountain. Around and underneath were
archways that led off into what looked, at first glance, to be endless
colonnades.Suddenly, Jessie looked behind her, expecting to see the
decontamination arch but instead stared at a faint projection of the
other side of the doorway. It shimmered beautifully in the cool, softly-
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blowing air of the Central chamber."Wh... where's the room we were just in?!" Jessie exclaimed,
worriedly. The 'projection', as she approached it, fizzled with energy
but was unmistakably the portal to the decontamination room."Just there, you can see it," Gomex calmly stated. "Why?""I... just walked through the door. There should be a room here!"
Jessie yelped, gesticulating at the empty space. She was right; where
the decontamination room would 'logically' be in a standard
construction was merely another endless gallery.The Medusa Platform was anything but a standard construction."Ah," Gomex laughed falsely again. This was already irritating
Jessie. "A slight elaboration." He turned to the group. "May I introduceyou to the grand new technology of dimensional bending, and your
first experience of it."Jessie, Frantik and Barrow followed the group gathering around the
shimmering portal, gazing through the translucent projection of the
decontamination room, some examining the 'rear' of the portal, only
to discover that, from all angles, the image resembled a straight-facing
rectangular doorway. Some put an arm warily through the rippling
energy which fizzled and dissipated harmlessly at their sleeves. They
felt the cool, circulated air of the decontamination room alright. It
really was a Gateway from one room to another; bridging the gap
through solid walls from one unconnected room to another next door
and linking a squat chamber at the base of the station, in among the
plant and processing areas, with the grand reception area a
considerable distance upstairs.It was this particular spatial trick that made the Medusa Platform
so special, and now Jessie realised that the ghostly visions stretching
out into space really were galleries and palladiums built into the very
substance of space itself."How does this all work?" Jessie asked curiously. Gomex squirmed
a little."You'd have to bring the principles of the workings up with
engineering. However, I do know that we've been able to craft pieces
of space, like pocket dimensions, and link them with our own, and with
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each other. It's really exciting stuff."The other tour guests murmured in assent, but Jessie was still not
satisfied."Is it safe, though?" Jessie stammered, noticing a hardening of
Gomex's eyes at the use of the term safe. "I feel a bit compelled to ask,that's all.
A moment passed, and the faux smile warped across the marketing
man's face once more. "Of course, you're all perfectly safe."The words rang a little hollow for Jessie's mind, but there wasn't
any reason to doubt them. Putting that feeling to one side, the tour
began in earnest. Following the group, Jessie went through the first
dimensional archway, a Gateway, that hugged the spherical side of thePlatform and took a breath.
Where any normal human would've expected a pressure hull
followed by the very emptiness of deep space was an instead almost
infinite field of clothing rails and merchandise stands stretching for
what looked like miles in all directions. The floor was a synthetic
parquet that stretched around until it became a brown blur on a
horizon far away while the roof faded out to reflect the stars. Between
the floors and roofs was a very feint white streak of what looked like
stacco polycarbide walls."This place is impossible..." Barro sighed. Gomex laughed. "You've
only just seen the entree. Here, all of you should put on one of
these..."From a storage bin near the quietly humming Gateway Gomex
handed out strange black devices formed like chunky wristwatches
that lacked a clock face but pulsed with a seeming random, frenetic
array of coloured pinpricks. Jessie cautiously strapped the device
handed to her to her wrist. It was warm and there was a sensation of
rapid, chaotic movement inside. It was uncomfortable."These," Gomez began over-enthusiastically, "are your personal
transit devices. Look around you and you'll see gateways to other parts
of the Platform. With a touch of the button, you'll be able to walk
wherever you want to go.""H.. How does it know that?" Frantik squeaked. "There's only one
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button!""Your finger forms a neural interface. As I said, I'm no engineer but
it works. Go on, give it a try!"Jessie's friends did so, cautiously pawing their PTDs with a clawed
finger. Streaky light traces followed each fingertip over the glossy blacksurface. Gomez watched, clicked a finger and a large Gateway sprang
from the floor as if by magic."As I said," Gomex enthused again with a subtle hint of coercion.
"Give it a try!"Barro was the first to step through the energy field. It hissed and
fizzled as his form made the step over the threshold. Trying to look
through the field, Jessie could see no indication as to where her friendwas. A few seconds later, Frantik made the leap and was similarly
gone. Left alone with Gomex in the monumental clothing department,
Jessie awkwardly avoided eye contact. He soon picked this up."Nowhere you want to go?""I just want to relax..." Jessie sighed. Gomex leapt into the air with
exuberance."Draw a line and jump through! You'll get what you want that
way!""Fine," Jessie sighed, steeling herself. Tentatively her finger drew a
pattern on the face of the PTD and the Gateway opened. She closed
her eyes once more as her feet took her forward. "Want to relax..." she
whispered.A buzzing of energy enveloped her as her body made the move into
the cloud of energy. There was a strobing flash of bright lights and a
sudden breeze whipped her hair wildly. Finally Jessie opened her eyes
and took stock.She found herself in an ocean of sofas. "Very relaxing!" she
exclaimed, but her words echoed all around with no-one to hear them.
While there was an almost infinitesimal number of sofas, seats, plushy
chairs, loveseats and benches surrounding her position by the Gateway
the place felt very empty and very hollow. Jessie was the only person
in this place, and it felt as if she was the only person in the universe.
Thinking back to the concept of pocket dimensions linked together,
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Jessie realised that she really was the only living inhabitant of this
world within a world.Who'd put all these sofas here? Jessie wondered. How had all this
stuff been magiced into this pocket dimension? There was so many
questions, many on universal scale, and no answers. It infuriated Jessieimmensely.
Figuring now was as good a time as any for something to eat, Jessie
traced out another pattern on the PTD. "I'm hungry," she thought
aloud, and stepped through the Gateway that appeared much more
willingly a second time, and found her destination - the food court - to
be much more relaxing than her previous one had been.She laughed. "That's better." To her added relief, her friends Barro
and Frantik were there as well, sitting at a nearby table. Jessie sidled
up. They were already eating."Grab some food, Jethro," Barro smiled, referring to Jessie's pet
name. "Looks like you need it!"Jessie laughed, grabbed a tray and moved along to the automated
food dispenser, selected a tasty-looking meal and received something
that only resembled the picture slightly. Taking her food over to her
friend's table, she couldn't help but notice a sea of identical tables, all
empty."This place creeps me out a bit," Jessie murmured.Frantik coughed. "You're right. It's empty, I get that... but it lacks... I
dunno..." she found herself unable to complete her statement. "It just
lacks something.""It lacks soul, that's what," Barro finished defiantly. Frantik and
Jessie nodded in assent as they instictively turned their heads
precisely, like insects, to examine every facet of the quiet room. All
three quickly finished their food and got up from the table, which
looked messy but now strangely unique amongst an ocean of
uniformity."I think it's time to leave..." Jessie suggested, doodling the pattern
on to her PTD. "Exit please."Simultaneously three Gateways opened, all destined for the same
place. Without a shrug, Jessie, Barro and Frantik walked through and
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emerged back in the Central chamber. No-one else was there."Alright, this is too creepy. Where is everyone?" Frantik huffed.A fourth Gateway opened up behind the trio with an unexpected
crack of energy This took them by surprise. A loud, boisterous voice
hurtled down three sets of inner ears."Everyone is having fun! Enjoying the place! I see you had lunch!"Gomex smiled falsely. "Why, do you not know where to go from here?
There's tons you've yet to see!"Jessie looked stonily down his very pupils. The look instantly
deflated his sense of fake enthusiasm. "We'd like to go home."Gomex's smile faltered for a split second. "Oh. Can I not interest
you in the gift shop? I'm sure you'd like a memento? And can I ask, formarket research, why you'd like to go home right now?"
Barro and Frantik looked awkwardly to the floor, but Jessie was less
shy. "Well, I admire the tech, and all, but this place lacks... well, it's a
shopping centre. Of all the possible ways to use this technology you
create a shopping center. Is that really as far as you can go with it?""Well..." an obviously-flustered Gomex stuttered, "it's only a first
application of the..."Before Gomex could finish, a great flash enveloped the Platform in
a blinding light which filled the windows and domed roof. The
occupants instantly fell to the floor, cowering behind arms in a bid to
protect their vision as the Platform shook violently. After a few
seconds the shaking ceased and the light died back down to normal
levels. Gomex helped the three young guests to their feet."I can assure you... that was notplanned! I'm sorry, er, where were
we?"Barro snorted. "About to leave, and it'd seem to be a timely exit,
too."Weakly, Gomex acknowledged that this was a wise move. Dusting
off his shirt, he let his shoulders drop in resignation. "Fine, alright, we'll
await the next shuttle."Waiting for said shuttle was proving an intense process. Scheduled
shuttles serviced the unopened Medusa Platform four times a day,
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every six hours. When Jessie, Barro, Frantik and Gomex had entered
the Platform Centre they'd still fourty-five minutes to wait. Bored,
Jessie waited out the time on a plastic seat, counting rivets in the floor."Hmm..." she murmured ominously. Frantik heard this."What's up Jethro?" she asked quietly as to not provoke suspicion.The Platform shook again. "Can't you feel those? Those... tremors?"Frantik placed her feet firmly on the floor. The Platform was subtly
but perceptibly shaking, in rhythmic waves that pulsed through the
very construction. Every couple of seconds heralded a new wave of
tremors, each stronger and more violent than the last. They were also
closing in, and getting more and more frequent. A low wailing and
booming sound emanated from every open Gateway with each pulse.The Platform began to wail, as if in dire pain.
"How long until that shuttle, again?" Barro hollered. Jessie glanced
at the clock."Twenty minutes.""I dunno about you," Barro continued to no-one in particular, "but I
don't like a single thing about this now."Gomex walked over to the guests bench. "Now I'm sure there's
nothing to worry about guys. Just relax. I'll try to get the rest of the
tour group..."He left through one of the Gateways, and Jessie's mind was
reminded of the other seventeen tour guests. Nothing had been heard
of them since they'd all gone their disparate ways at the start of the
tour.Jessie was worried. Nothing seemed to be adding up, and a feeling
of wrongness enveloped the waiting area with a deathly chill.The groans and shudders were ceaseless andgrowing exponentially.
Seconds passed like aeons and all Jessie, and her friends, wanted to do
was to leave. This place was decidedly bad.Six eyeballs rolled toward the shuttle clock. Seventeen minutes
remaining.Without warning, Gomex jumped through a Gateway that opened
in the floor. Behind him was another figure that slumped to the floor.
Unlike all the other gateways so far it wasn't a bright petrol-blue in
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colour but blood-curdling red. Jessie and the others instantly jumped
up to help him."Gotta escape..." Gomex breathed before slumping in the collective
grip of the guests and the technician. It was Parcus, from before! He
was still conscious, but only barely. Jessie was surprised at the severeinjuries sported by their guide; his shirt was ripped in multiple places,
his face lacerated and blood pock-marked across his entire body.
Whatever had happened to Gomex, it'd been a brutal encounter.
Parcus too looked as if he'd been in quite a fight."Jeez, what did this?!" Jessie breathed quickly as she and her
friends placed Gomez onto the cold, steel floor. Parcus stumbled over
and knelt beside them.
"Terrible things did! Almost human, I think... they came out of mid-
air and attacked our team. I was the only one who could... oh God!" he
wailed, recalling the horrific images in his mind of his team being torn
apart. The Platform shook again, enough for dust to cloud around the
joins in the structure. Parcus was, in a flash, lucid again. "You've gotta
get out. There's dimensional flex taking all the departments as one and
sucking them all together."Gomex called over. "I thought the tech was totally safe, you said so
yourself!""You saw the solar flare. It overloaded the dampeners that were
keeping the departments contiguous. Now it's all offline... it's like the
Platform is tearing itself inside out, one layer at a time. There's not
much time left!""What are we supposed to do?" Gomex said angrily."Get me to Engineering. I'll bring the dampeners back up and stitch
the department realms shut. Nothing'll get in or out, but we must
hurry before the dimensional tearing becomes too great to overcome."Gomex's shoulders drooped in resignation. All the work on the
Platform, all the effort on his part to promote it and be seen worthy to
promote it, would be for nothing. However even he could realise the
peril the situation placed the group in. The choice between sacrificing
the Fiesta Platform and preventing a terminal galactic event was
ultimately a no-brainer. The Medusa Platform could be rebuilt later;
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the galaxy, with infinitesimal different species, cultures, creeds and
races could not. It would be foolhardy, at any rate, to suck the
intended customer base through a black hole. "How do we get there?""It's not so tough, though we'll have to navigate the emergency
passageways.""Can't we use a Gateway to jump across?" Frantik asked naively.The technician grabbed the device attached to her wrist and threw it
to the ground where it smashed to pieces."No, and don't touch those things! They're too dangerous now, you
may end up between departments or interspersed between them. And
each transit just makes the whole thing worse! It'll be about a twenty
minute walk, at best."
"Are you really in any condition for it? You're bleeding still," Barro
noticed astutely. He was right, and Jessie concurred. "You can't do a
twenty minute walk in that state."Parcus winced as he walked across the floor. "I'm going to have to
do it. You can't graduate the dampeners. It's... not like a lever. More a
series of switches that have to be activated in a set order. Christ," he
inhaled sharply with pain, "it's the only option.""We'd better get going, then, I guess," Gomex huffed. "Where's the
emergency door then?"Parcus stumbled to a hatch against a metal wall near the curved
hull of the Platform. With a laboured kick it unfolded to reveal a spiral
staircase that descended into absolute darkness. The groaning metal
was even louder down here. Slowly at first Jessie and the survivors
edged down the stairwell in darkness until the emergency lights shone
a grubby green light from above. This cast eerie shadows on the grey
metal walls. Eventually the stairway levelled out into a compressed
passageway that ducked around great installations encased in metal.
Some of the walls were white with fatigue, and most others were dirty
and covered in grime, betraying the true age of parts of the Medusa
Platform. Gomex felt compelled to come clean."I know what you're all thinking, so I'll just come out with it.
Medusa isn't brand new; rather, re-purposed from military
experiments. You know, thinking about all the strange goings on, it's
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no wonder Medusa Corp acquired it so cheap.""Hmm," Barro mused, "so we're not tour guests, we're guinea
pigs?"Gomex huffed. "You and me both. I thought this was my big break.
The only thing I'm likely to break is my leg, now."A moment of silence, and stillness, enveloped the group. Theplatform murmured and shuddered again. Dust was dislodged and
formed creepy clouds in the passageway."Time for moping later," Jessie said, taking the initiative. "As a
representative of the guinea pigs, I want to get out alive."The passage dipped under further massive machinery, with the
footsteps of the survivors apparently 'tickling' the inside of thePlatform, which whinnied and gurgled almost organically.
"Alright,"Parcus gasped as the group arrived at a closed doorway,
"prepare yourselves.""What for," Frantik hushed."We've gotta cross the drive floor to access the manual override.
It's a balancing act...""... between time and cautiousness?" Barro interrupted. Parcus
raised an eyebrow incredulously and opened the door. The group
gazed through and a collective sharp intake of breath occurred."No, literally. It's a balancing act." Parcus pointed at a narrow beam
barely wide enough to walk on that led to an isolated control platform
about ten metres away. The beam spanned a glowing orange mass
that seethed with heat and smoke."Do we all need to get across," Frantik squeaked. Parcus turned
slowly to face her."Just me," he gulped and steeled himself on his injured leg. "I'll...
well, I'll get it done."He took a step toward the beam, and the platform rattled. "It's
alright, nothing bad can happen. Just a molten drive-core burning
below..."The beam was severely scorched and the heat from the drive-core
below was incredible. Stepping out from the balcony, the waves of
energy beat back the human form for a moment. Parcus tried again
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and persisted through the agony, inching across with arms extended to
maintain balance. The Platform was shaking and he glanced briefly the
core below. It was angry and unchained, the actual core engulfed in
energy that licked up the shaft toward the opening, creating a draft of
super-hot gas that stung the arms of the injured technican through hisflimsy uniform. As he approached the deck on the opposite side the
fabric began to blacken and smoulder. With a lurch of the platform,
Parcus fell onto the deck.The figure was motionless. On the other side of the vent, the four
survivors gasped, hardly daring to breathe, and only doing so when
Parcus shuffled toward the console. He pulled himself up at obvious
great pain and fell onto the manual controls. His burned hands creptup from beside his torso and felt the control levers, pulling some,
depressing buttons and moving dials. Time seemed to elapse so slowly
that his very movements seemed laboured and pained, though this
was more on account of the burns suffered. With a final great
exultation of effort - for he'd been grunting in pain throughout - Parcus
pulled the final lever and green lights shone across, beating through
the orange haze of the intense heat. The Platform was felt to almost
invert before coming to rest, the reactor core below tempered and
calm now the gravity dampeners had taken hold. Curiosity beget the
survivors who peered down the shaft toward the purring drive core. A
cool, calm blue glow took the place of the roaring heat and bounced
off the scorched shaft."Seems better to me..." Barro laughed."He's still gotta get back," Frantik said cautiously, watching the
burned technical on the other side of the expanse struggle to face the
walk back. His hands were badly scarred by heat and getting a standing
position was proving difficult. Parcus managed to struggle back to the
edge and began the painful tiptoe across. A minute or two passed and
the technician, sweating profusely from effort, was about a third of the
way across."You can do it!""Yeah," Parcus replied through gritted teeth, "I'm doing it. Yeah, it."Without any warning, the Platform shook and fire erupted from the
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core below. Parcus stopped dead, his face paralysed with fear as the
beam squealed. Turning, he saw levers on the command console had
lifted, and the dampeners had been taken offline. "Shit!" he cried with
frustration. "Not today! No, no, not today!"The rest of the survivors froze on the other side of the gaping void
as the whole Platform shuddered more violently than ever before.
Licks of gold fire roared up the shaft and past the lone girder. It sagged
and bowed; it was clearly melting. A single bead of sweat dripped from
Parcus' face and evaporated into steam. A look of resignation and
knowing then befell the scorched face."What do we do? What do we do?!" shrieked Gomex. "Turn the
thing back off!"
"I can't..." Parcus sighed, "I can't turn it back on without holding
down the switch."Suddenly silence took hold. Nobody dared to breathe, and the only
sound was that which came about from the hissing core below. Jessie
took a step forward toward the beam, but did not step onto it."I'll do it," she said bluntly. Barro and Frantik gasped, but Parcus
merely shook his head."No, kid. I'm no good to you anyway. I'd just slow you all down.""Are you sure?" Jessie begged. "Is there not some other way?"A subtle shaking of his head was very telling. "It's how it's gotta be.
It's been a good life, on the whole.""You don't have to do this just for us. It's... " Jessie stuttered, not
knowing what to say to a man about to condemn himself to a fiery
death, "it's very noble of you."Parcus snorted with an unwilling laugh. "Huh. Well, I've a daughter,
about your age, and if I die so she isn't sucked into a galactic plughole
than I suppose that's how it has to be.""I guess you're right," Jessie muttered. Parcus stepped from the
bending girder and heaved his way to the console."Look, get to the escape pods while there's still time. I'd be happier
in doom knowing at least a few people got away from this shithole."Jessie's eyes glistened but the moisture soon evaporated in the
relentless head. Barro, Frantik and Gomex filed back into the tunnel,
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leaving Jessie alone for a second as she tore herself away from the
heroic technician. Finally with a nod she left into the cool blackness of
the passage. As blackness enveloped her, there was an almighty hiss
and a wheeze, and a man exulting in death, making the ultimate
sacrifice.The Platform stopped shaking and silence truly descended. In anopen area she took refuge with the rest of the survivors.
"I really, really think it's time we got off this Platform," Jessie said,
but her voices echoed through a seemingly-endless hallway. She
looked around but her vision appeared blurry, and there was no sign of
her friends. The grey wall's features melded into a endless smear of
metal that seemed like it was spinning. Flashes of blue light - Gatewaysopening - glared through the haze of another dimension as they
popped suddenly into existence. Feeling almost drunk, Jessie took a
step forward. Her feet felt as if they weighed a thousand tons and she
was wading through tar. One of the Gateways floated closer and
enveloped Jessie, and she blinked to find her vision mysteriously
impeccable.Something was wrong, she felt, and looked around. A department
had filled the space around her, the floor filled with merchandise and
the roof space an endless maze of vents and ducts. It felt unfinished
and unready, but here she was."Barro! Frantik!" she called, getting desperate. "Mr. Gomex, are
you here?!"Nothing came in response. Jessie looked round for any signs of life.
Nothing; just racks and shelves that went in all directions perpetually,
with lights buzzing and vents gurgling. She walked for what seemed
like hours but was merely minutes. Time itself seemed vacant in this
place.A Gateway was fused to a shelf in front of her, and this anomaly
perturbed and intrigued the youngster. The energy gate was fuzzy and
it made her hair stand up."Strange..." she murmured to herself, and turned to walk away;
however, the Gateway had other ideas and as soon as her feet moved
away gravity ensnared the girl and flung her, without warning, directly
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for the energy field. Jessie screamed but landed on the floor on the
other side of the Gateway in another area of the same unfinished
department."The hell?!" she called, dusting herself off. In quick succession,
multiple Gateways opened an indeterminate distance from herposition and an ominous, inhuman snarling sound filled the space
around Jessie.Instinctively she knew better than to wait and ran in any direction
that seemed to be away.Rails and shelves seemed to disintegrate into their constituent
molecules on her very touch as Jessie ran past them, and her vision
began to blur into smears once again. An agonising pounding sensationtook over her conscious mind and her head felt as if it were trapped in
a tightening vice.Jessie screamed and fell to her knees with pain. Shadows loomed
over her, trapping her against a rocky escarpment that had pierced the
carpeted floor. Her vision regained lucidity in strobing fits. The
Shadows were humanoid but the colour drained from the faces that
seemed somewhat familiar. With each beat the faces became more
distinct as they crowded around Jessie and dominated her view.
Emaciated flesh hung from powdery bone onto the floor in pools that
boiled on contact. The ringing in her ears was supplemented by ghastly
groans and whinnies. These were not just any humans, they were the
rest of the tour group! Their consciousnesses had been extinguished
when the departments they were visiting ripped open on the
dimensional level and their bodies, battered and charred, assumed a
sort-of autopilot.Bony fingers pressed into Jessie's skin. The cold touch was palpable.
These savages wanted flesh to replace their withered own, and a hand
clasping at her skull implied they wanted more than that; the bodies
were seeking a new brain to make a futile attempt at restarting life
with."No! I won't let you take me to Hell with you!" Jessie screamed
vigorously, regaining in a flash the lucidity of her own mind and the
ability to move her limbs. Defiantly she kicked out at the nearest
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Shadow and its ribcage collapsed like balsa wood, sending the creature
itself (for it was no longer human) flying to the floor. The Shadow
crumpled into a motionless heap. The others gathered around went to
compensate for their fallen comrade and Jessie found it was her
adrenalin that kept her fighting to get away from the scrum that hadnearly enveloped her.
With a hiss, the remaining Shadows bolted back toward Jessie.
Cold, black eyes were filled with death, and Jessie knew they would be
less kind if she were to be caught again. There would be less mercy and
curiosity; more death. Jessie had no plans on dying on that day but
those plans looked with every passing millisecond to be in increasing
jeopardy.
The department around her began to warp and distort again.
Jessie's feet began to feel heavy and her arms as if cast from lead. She
knew that if she stopped, she was as good as dead.Closely a Gateway opened almost on command, the concentric
blue energy rings standing out against the backdrop of melting walls
and distorting floors. Jessie saw it burst into being and immediately ran
for it, each step turning into agony, and jumped. As she leapt her eyes
bolted shut and a frigid breeze whipped through her hair."Nooooo!" she laboured, not knowing what else to cry as the wind
ripped at her clothing and blew dust into her face. Was this the end for
her? Was it reality itself ripping apart? She felt buffeted in an unknown
space, nausea rising in her belly but not daring to creep up her
oesophagus.
Abruptly the wind ceased. Blood flowed to Jessie's skin and the
warmth of life began to flow again. Jessie's eyes remained cemented
shut. She didn't want to see if she was still alive, or where she was, if
anywhere at all."Jessie" Jessie!" a voice called. It seemed familiar. The ringing in
Jessie's ears began to subside. "Jethro, wake up already!""I dunno," another voice called, "maybe it's too late?""There's not time to think like that!" the first voice barked. Jessie
recognised it at last, the pounding in her head disappearing in a flash
of consciousness.
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"Too late for what, Frantik?" Jessie coughed, sitting up in a fit of
energy. Her friends looks of concern immediately evaporated at
Jessie's apparent revival.Barro slid over. "The cavalry's almost here!"There was no time to question any more. Jessie was pulled to her
feet and the three guests and Mr. Gomex ran. Jessie looked over her
shoulder to see the Gateway she had just been flung from was not
blue and tranquil; it was angry and spat shards of red energy into the
rapidly distorting space around it.The escape pod bay soon enveloped the group. There was a
calming breeze of cool air that contrasted with the hot, acrid humidity
of the rest of the Platform. The calmness was artificial and temporary,however; through a window the looming form of a Navy Cruiser
appeared, followed by another two. Between them was the Service
Ship and salvation."At last!" Jessie sighed with relief, though this was not shared by
the others."Not yet," Gomex gasped. "You missed the announcement. All
this," he gestured to the structure itself, "has to be destroyed.""What?!" Jessie said incredulously. "Why did nobody say...""There isn't time!" Gomex coughed irritably. "We've about two
minutes before the end."Frantik and Barro had been opening one of the circular hatches in
the exterior wall that led to an escape pod while Gomex explained the
situation to a bewildered Jessie. With a hiss of pneumatics the door
creaked open and the empty escape pod beckoned. "Get in, both of
you!"Jessie followed her friends and took a seat, with Gomex coming in
last. The door to the pod closed but refused to seal, preventing launch."One minute until Platform destruction!" came an announcement
from the main Cruiser, seemingly tapping into the Medusa Platform's
PA system."Is there anything on this station that actually works?!" Barro
exulted angrily. "Environmental seal isn't there."Jessie rolled her eyes, almost knowing what was to come. "Lemme
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guess, the manual control's on the other side of the door."Barro's subtle nod suggested she was indeed correct in deducing
another example of abysmal design."I'll go," Gomex said shortly. "There's... there's no time to discuss it.
Fiesta Corp got you all into this horrible mess, and as the sole livingemployee of Fiesta Corp on this station..."
"That's kind," Jessie smiled weakly. "I know none of this was your
doing. We've all been left to rot here by the highers-up."Gomex had already gotten up from his seat and re-opened the
door. In the shadow of the threshold he smiled wryly. "Corporate
manslaughter, and that's just the start."Jessie snorted in agreement and nodded. The door closed and
rapidly the escape pod was flung by chemical propellants far from the
Platform.Almost simultaneously, the lead cruiser opened fire. Twinkles of
light erupted from it's hull and spiralled into the very heart of the
Medusa Platform. There was a heavy explosion that lit up all of space
as the metal conduits and structural members folded about the
dimensional singularity right at the very heart of the Platform. The
reactor exploded in a fiery ball and in an instant there was nothing left.
All of the rubble and debris was sucked through the singularity in a
booming wave of energy, and the singularity sealed itself neatly behind
it.As disasters went, this near-one had impeccable manners.Beaten, bruised but most of all alive and well, the escape pod
fluttered aimlessly through clean space, until the Support Ship picked it
up. Medical teams rushed to the aid of the three survivors. Hundreds
were dead, and their remains ceased to be.All Jessie could want now, as medics fussed about her and treated
her injuries, was to be at home. Asleep.
Across the galactic horizon the Sun rose from behind Jupiter's
majestic mass and filtered through the Support Ship's windows. Jessie
had thought for a moment she'd never see this again: it was a new
dawn.
THE END