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The Chronicles of Monster Planet

Day 1

Imagine your arm numbed after a night's sleep. Then you wake up and fresh, oxygen-rich blood rushes through the arteries again. You know the feeling, don’t you? I’m sure you do. Anyway, when you emerge from a state of deep conservation, you feel something very similar, but on a much greater scale. It's pins and needles from head to toe, your eyes feel to be popping out of their sockets, and instant death, in that moment, seems a rather acceptable way out. But, like everything under the sun, deconservation eventually comes to an end. The system scrupulously purges the cells of substances that previously slowed down their vital functions nearly to a halt. Throughout the process, the blood is repeatedly pumped through a variety of filters. At the same time, delicate needles inject chemical reagents to all parts of the body. And then the moment comes when your widely open eyes regain their ability to focus, and the brain begins to think, albeit not very straight at first.

My vision cleared, and I immediately realized what was going on. It was just like the last time. Only the first time was a test-run. Doctors had to check how well we could tolerate deep conservation.

Meanwhile, the needles retracted back into the capsule, and the bed activated its pneumatic massage function. I stared through the transparent lid of the capsule, failing to understand why the ceiling was so high. My memory returned quickly. Has something gone wrong? Have they discontinued the project? The capsule lid clicked and parted. I took hold of its edges and sat down, looking around.

“All right, another one woke up,” said a gaunt balding man in a white hoodie. His accent was unfamiliar.

Then I saw Ji Cheng sitting nearby in a capsule just like mine. Just like the rest of us, Cheng – our team's astrophysicist – was wearing a jumpsuit with a large United Nations emblem on the sleeve. Her calm, emotionless face never provided any clues as to what she was thinking.

“Who are you?” I asked the gaunt man.

“Dr. Stein, Thomas Stein,” he replied. And, judging by the inscription on the capsule, you are Maximilian Gauthier.”

“That's right, call me Max. It didn’t work out, did it?”

“What didn’t work out?” he asked, confused.

“The flight,” I said, examining the room. It was small, about three meters high and housed our five capsules along with some other – possibly medical – equipment, which I could not identify at a glance. In any case, we were definitely not aboard our ship, the Hope.

Another capsule opened up with a characteristic click, and I recognized Lisa Small, our radio engineer and co-pilot, endowed with a bright appearance and equally brilliant mind.

“Lisa Small, there you are,” Thomas Stein greeted the girl, peering into a cluster of displays which, as I just noticed, was connected to our capsules.

“Where are we?” Lisa inquired, turning her petite nose in my direction.

“Something is probably wrong with the ship, so they must have postponed the flight,” I shrugged.

Two capsules opened at once, and we saw the surprised face of John Finn, our captain, and the dour expression belonging to our biologist and surgeon, Boris Leonov. Finn promptly climbed out of his capsule and got straight down to business.

“Why was the flight postponed?” he asked Dr. Stein.

“I'm only the doctor,” he replied, and I noticed his strange (possibly, German) accent again.

The door opened, and a small chestnut-haired woman with sharp facial features and attentive brown eyes entered the room.

“You'll get your answers later, but not from me,” the doctor continued. “Ah, this is my assistant, Sheila Hill, she'll show you to your rooms. Take a couple of hours' rest, then we'll get together again and have someone answer your questions. Excuse me, I have lots of data to process regarding your condition. Conservation is a complex and unconventional procedure.”

I got out of the capsule, Small and Cheng did the same. I felt quite normal now. Leonov was still sitting, he was clearly interested in Stein's equipment.

“What's this?” he asked. “Why was the Toshiba analyzer replaced?”

“I repeat, all questions will be answered later,” Thomas Stein replied. “I have work to do. Treat the situation professionally.”

“Boris, get up,” Finn said. “We’ll figure everything out soon enough.”

With an exaggerated grunt, Leonov got out of the capsule and joined the group.

“Please, follow me,” Sheila Hill pointed at the door.

Finn looked at us, then left the room. I made way for Lisa and Ji, then followed. Leonov hesitated, trying to take a closer look at the medical equipment.

There was nothing remarkable in the corridor, except for a huge blond man with short-cropped hair. He was standing against the wall, powerful arms crossed over his chest. The blond wore a uniform, but not an astronaut uniform. He was in khaki fatigues, and there was a holster on his belt.

“Well, I just knew the flight would be cancelled,” said Leonov, as if expressing my own thoughts. “Terrorists blew up the ship, right?”

“It’s not what you think,” our guide informed.

“Then what?” Finn asked.

“Listen,” Sheila replied, “you'll find out soon enough, but not from me. So for now, just follow me.”

She led us down a concrete corridor lit with halogen lamps or something of the sort. Two separate lines of bundled wires – electrical and optical cables— were laid along the wall. A metal staircase led us to a lower floor. I noticed that the doors were sealed with massive airtight gates coming out of the walls.

The lower floor featured an identical corridor, although this one had doors along the right wall. These were compartments, rooms. However, they rather reminded me of prison cells. Dr. Hill showed each of us to our own room.

“Have a rest, I'll come for you in two hours.”

The tall beefy blond with the gun stationed himself in the corridor, further supporting my associations with prison. Sheila caught my eye.

“That's Werner. Should you need anything, just ask him.”

I nodded, although Werner seemed useful for only two purposes: moving something heavy or sending someone to a better world.

Having entered my compartment, I kicked off my shoes and dropped to the bed. I didn't feel well after the conservation. There was nothing special about the room: a bed, a table, two chairs, a shower and a toilet. According to my estimates, the room measured roughly ten square feet.

Well, it seems that our mission failed for some reason. Now we are probably at a military base. Though, it doesn’t really look like a boot camp. I wonder if the flight has been postponed or completely canceled. What happened? Julia will be happy, I thought, recalling my girlfriend's face. Although I made it clear to her that my goal was to fly.

On my last visit to Washington, we met at a café on Massachusetts Avenue. I had to get my paperwork done, and she already knew I was leaving. I couldn't even stay the night with her, as my orders required getting back to Houston in the evening. She shed some tears. It was our last date.

“Max, why won't you change your mind? My parents are willing to give us their second house. With your outstanding education, you can find a job anywhere. You know, you could work as my father's deputy.”

“Listen, we've been over this so many times already. I’ve spent years of my life and a ton of money to get on the crew. It was a sheer stroke of luck that the primary candidate broke his arm. Don’t you understand?! My whole life has been leading up to this flight. And when they told me I qualified only as a backup crew member… and then this chance…” I continued after a pause. “Do you really want me to throw it all away?”

“But you're not coming back, are you?” she asked, choking back tears.

“No. It's a one-way ticket. But I was honest about that when we first met, and I think it played an important role in what we had. You've always been flattered to be an astronaut's girlfriend, haven't you? Making your friends go green with envy.”

“I always thought you'd stay. I never thought it was serious. And, like you said, you… you were just a backup.”

She started crying again. But I wasn't thinking about her anymore. I was re-living that elation I felt when I found out that Alan broke his shoulder during hockey practice. There I was, standing still, gazing upon a monument to the first astronaut, Yuri Gagarin, but my thoughts were far away in the sky. I will fly, I will be there, I will become one of the first settlers on another planet. Out of billions of people, I was one of the lucky five.

But now… I shrugged away the memories, the picture changed. It’s over. Cancelled. What if we don't fly anywhere at all? So much time, money and hopes wasted. The Hope. That was the name of our ship. It was an allegory, the hope of humanity. Our planet was almost irreversibly destroyed, and we could not prevent its further deterioration. So-called presidents and prime ministers of developed countries paid lip service to environmental protection, participated in various congresses and public organizations, but all of them still remained miserable slaves of private capital, which was bleeding the planet dry. Oil, natural gas, shale gas, open-pit mining, deep-sea mining, carbon dioxide emissions, greenhouse effect, ozone holes, endless wars and much more. The planet was dying and there was a part of society that understood this very well. Among those were some very rich and influential people who managed to push the corruption-riddled United Nations into arranging an international space expedition.

Our expedition became possible only after the Pullman-Anderson drive was created. Based on the Pullman effect, the Anderson Design Bureau managed to develop a uniquely fast sub-light drive.

Our mission was to gather intelligence. To land on a designated Earth-type exoplanet, send the Hope back home and wait for the Ark, a new larger ship with settlers, which had just entered the design stage at the time of our launch. The Hope was essentially a large house that could be detached from the carrier and work autonomously on nuclear power for hundreds of years. We were to confirm that the planet was, in fact, habitable.

Our target planet was located more than a hundred light years from Earth, thus, induced suspended animation – deep conservation – was required. The DC machines developed at that time were tested on us. Time was precious.

Nearly two hundred years in a capsule with an artificially maintained microclimate, including pressure to simulate gravity. That's what we had to endure. Then it was either “new Earth” – or not. The latter option was not a pleasant one.

According to the scientists, it was highly likely that the planet would be similar to Earth. It was discovered a long time ago with the help of NASA's Kepler telescope. The telescope operated from 2009 to 2013 and made it possible to discover over three thousand exoplanets. Planets outside the Solar System. And the very first exoplanet was discovered at the end of the twentieth century, orbiting the orange subgiant Gamma Cephei A. Our destination star was also orange, although it was a dwarf. It was located in the Vela constellation, the largest star of which was nicknamed after astronaut Roger Chaffee.

Thus, our goal was a planet orbiting an orange dwarf. To be clear, an orange dwarf is a cross between a red dwarf and a yellow dwarf like the Sun. Something in between in terms of luminosity and size. That orange dwarf was seven tenths the size of the Sun, yet had the same luminosity. Possibly, there were other bodies in orbit around it, but only one was confirmed by the Kepler telescope. The planet was solid – in contrast to gaseous ones; there are four such planets in the Solar System. The planet was about one and a half times the size of Earth, and it was closer to its star than Earth is to the Sun, but within the habitable zone. The planet had an atmosphere and presumably water on its surface.

After several years of heated debate, the scientists selected it from a rather long list of candidates. The list included about three hundred planets in our galaxy, the Milky Way. Some of them were rejected due to qualitative characteristics, others – due to their remoteness. Our spiral galaxy is about one hundred thousand light years or zero point six quintillion miles in diameter. Can you imagine that? I can't. The Solar System is closer to the edge of the galaxy, at a distance of two-thirds of its radius from the center. That being said, the closest star is four light years from the Sun, while the farthest systems are about eighty or ninety thousand light years away.

The concentration of stars, and likewise, of planets, is higher in the center of the galaxy – for instance, in the Sagittarius constellation. If we could explore planet after planet, like in science fiction novels, we would fly there. But in reality, we could only fly along the route from point A to point B. Moreover, the crew was in a suspended animation state during the flight, so it was the automatic systems of the ship that controlled everything. The flight plan was as follows: the ship takes off from Earth via a launch vehicle. The Pullman-Anderson drive is activated in orbit, sending the ship along its course toward the stars. The ship then enters the orbit of the orange dwarf planet and detaches the housing and research modules. These modules descend to the surface with astronauts on board. In a month or less, at our command, the Hope was supposed to take a reverse course and bring the research data and information we had transmitted from the surface back to Earth. In any case, we, the Hope crew, would not live long enough to see the second ship. In addition, the chance that the ship would safely reach the planet and return back was significantly lower than the chance of the planet being similar to Earth.

Memories and thoughts raced through my mind, then turned into fragmentary colored spots, and I fell asleep without even realizing it.

I woke to the sound of an opening door and rubbed my eyes. Sheila, who had not bothered to knock, was standing at the doorstep.

“It's time,” she said, and walked on.

I put on my shoes, splashed some cold water on my face and went out to the corridor. Everyone was already there. Apart from the expected fatigue, their faces showed discontent. We, astronauts, have never been treated this way. I stole a glance at Werner, it seemed that this whole time not only had he been standing in the same spot, but he’d also remained completely motionless.

“Follow me,” Sheila Hill commanded rather than asked.

We followed her in single file. I looked back and saw Werner trailing us like a shadow. This time we reached the door of a large freight elevator. There were twenty buttons on the elevator panel, the first floor button at the top. This means that we are underground, I concluded. Perhaps a military base? But why would they drag us here? I didn't notice which button Dr. Hill pressed. My attention was focused on my own face in the elevator mirror – it was as gloomy as the other crew members', with black circles under the eyes. I caught Werner's gaze in the mirror.

“Fell in love already?” I quipped. “Sorry, babe, I'm straight through and through.”

My joke fell flat, not a muscle flinched on Werner's face. Only Sheila cast a disapproving glance in my direction. I shrugged. The elevator stopped, and the doors opened.

The corridor in front of us was flooded with light. Its walls and ceiling were covered with decorative panels, most likely made of foam plastic. We proceeded to the left toward glass doors. When Sheila reached the door, she let us go ahead, then entered herself. Werner stayed outside. It was a conference room, somewhat similar to a small lecture hall at a university. Judging by its height, it occupied two floors of the underground facility.

The room housed metal-framed tables arranged in rows.

“Please sit down,” said the man at the lecturer's desk.

There were two people sitting there. The one who spoke and a balding man of about forty-five, who seemed vaguely familiar.

I sat in the second row. Boris took a seat next to me.

“I think terrorists blew up the ship, and we are in prison. They are looking for accomplices among the crew,” he whispered confidentially in my ear.

This was complete nonsense for sure, but I didn't exactly like Werner and his gun. Why was he here? Well, there's no use in guessing, so I just listened.

The first man – in his fifties with gray hair and short gray mustache – got up and began to speak.

“I would like to explain what happened to you, and it will be easier if you refrain from any comments for a while,” the man said, instead of what normally should have been a greeting. “This way I'll be able to tell you everything without getting swamped with premature questions. Okay?”

We all nodded with interest. He isn't going to torture anyone yet, I thought and looked at Boris. Apparently, the peaceful beginning did not convince him at all.

“First of all, let me introduce myself,” the mustachioed man continued. “My name is Edward Trevor, the commandant of this base. This is my deputy, Alex Bush,” he pointed to the man next to him. “You already know Dr. Hill and Dr. Stein. And this is our security chief, Vincent Taney,” he introduced the man just entering the room.

“Sorry for being late, I was busy,” Taney said, taking a seat. “Go on, Ed.”

I didn't like this new person, another camouflaged guy. Slender build. About thirty years old. Dark slicked back hair.

“Now, after all introductions, let's proceed to the matter at hand. I would like to congratulate you on a successful arrival and welcome you to the Terra Nova planet on behalf of all colonists living at this base.”

Saying that my jaw dropped in surprise after his words would fail to describe the true extent of my astonishment. I turned my head and saw that my fellow astronauts felt the same – they looked as if competing for the world's most surprised expression. As befits a commander, Finn was the first to come to his senses.

“It can't be true. Is that some kind of a sick joke? Was the flight canceled?”

We shouted in support of our commander, asking the same questions all at once. Trevor raised his hand for silence.

“Yes, you heard it right. It's hard to believe. But it is true.”

“But how?” Finn asked.

“Your flight was a very long one. Almost two hundred years. A lot of things happened during this time. The most important of them occurred on Earth ten years after you left it. A way to move through the Droescher-Heim space was invented, that is, the ability to puncture conventional space in order to travel faster than light.

We fell silent.

“You had a Pullman-Anderson sub-light drive leveraging the Pullman effect. But puncturing space is instantaneous, all you need is an enormous amount of energy,” he cleared his throat.

I think all of us just sat there for a while – confused, with our jaws dropped.

“You see,” the speaker continued, “a new expedition was arranged and sent to Terra Nova. It reached the planet one hundred and thirty years before you did. Do you understand?”

We kept silent. I finally closed my mouth and heard Boris grunt incredulously next to me.

“The colonists reported that the planet is habitable, but humans can't breathe the local atmosphere. Which means modified atmosphere is required to establish bases here,” he paused.

“But a new problem arose,” Trevor continued. “The planet is inhabited. It is inhabited by an aggressive life form showing vestiges of intelligence. And these creatures have an advantage. It is their home world. These monsters wiped out the colonists from the first expedition. And from the next one too. We are descendants of the third colonization wave. This,” he made a circular motion, “is the third human base on this planet.”

“Were there other expeditions?” Finn asked.

Trevor shook his head and answered, “Communication with Earth is lost. We don't have enough power for a hyperspace puncture. And there have been no ships from Earth in the last fifty years.”

The hall sank into a deathly silence. Everyone was gripped by foreboding thoughts about the fate of their home planet, as well as relatives and friends back there. About humanity as a civilization.

“How many people do you have here?” Lisa asked.

“Twenty-eight,” Trevor replied. “Thirty-three, counting you.”

“Not enough. An almost extinct population,” Leonov commented.

“We know,” Taney looked at him. “And it grows even smaller as we continue to fight the indigenous life forms.”

The news was quite shocking. My thoughts were racing back and forth between the flight and the incomprehensible situation here, I could not concentrate on anything. But then the smartest member of our team, a winner of the Abel Prize in mathematics, Ji Cheng, spoke.

“You’ve said that the first expedition arrived a hundred and thirty years before us. But if the drive was built ten years after our departure, then the expedition should have arrived one hundred and sixty-nine years before us, because a hyperspace flight from Earth to this planet takes twenty-one years,” she said and looked at her watch.

Trevor and Bush exchanged glances. To be honest, I didn't understand how she had arrived to this conclusion.

“I said that the drive was invented, not built. The project took several decades to implement. Are you satisfied? Any other questions?” Trevor asked with displeasure when Cheng nodded.

“I'd like to examine the medical part of the base,” Boris requested.

“Yes, sure, but all in good time,” Trevor raised his hands reassuringly. “Let's have a meal first. Sheila will show you to the mess hall. Then we'll assign you stations at the base according to your professional skills.”

“And the locals? What are they?” I asked, unexpectedly for myself.

“The indigenous life forms – monsters, as we call them – are the dominant species of this planet. Their intelligence is not very developed, but they show animalistic ferocity and are quite cunning. You will have plenty of opportunities to see them. You'll see enough of them to make you sick, believe me,” Bush replied. “What else?”

We kept silent, so Finn expressed his willingness to have a meal.

“Before you leave,” Taney got up from his seat, “take these bracelets. They act as wireless passes that grant you access to the base compartments.”

“We can't go everywhere, can we?” Finn asked.

“Not until you get to know the base better. Actually, it is for your own good. There are quite many dangerous areas here.”

Sheila was our guide again, we followed her – but not until we took the bracelets from Vincent Taney's hands.

“What are they hiding from us?” the Russian doctor whispered in my ear.

“You do have a penchant for distrust, don't you, Boris?” I said, dismissing his suspicions.

“Mark my words!” he noted pointedly, his eyes flashing fire, but I was already ahead of him.

Boris hurried after me. I wanted to catch up with Cheng and have a word with her, but suddenly I ran into a charming blue-eyed brunette. Her graceful figure distracted me from the Chinese specialist and serious questions.

“Aren't you a power engineer from the Hope?” she asked in a deep, velvety voice.

“That would be me. How can I help such a beautiful lady?”

“How nice of you to say that!”

“It's a family trait,” I smiled my most enticing smile.

“I'm Anna Ericsson, an engineer at this base,” the girl held out her hand. “It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Her handshake was warm and firm. And suddenly I felt like drowning in those big, sensual eyes of hers. The reverie was broken by a metallic sound of Cheng's bracelet falling on the immaculately polished floor. Anna and I looked at her at once. But she didn't notice dropping the bracelet or our stares. Ji was looking at her watch intently. She's calculating something again, I thought. But what? She clearly doesn't like something about this place. Is something wrong with time? If only I had known back then what I know now! On the other hand, maybe it wouldn't have changed anything.

“Hey, Ji,” I called out to the astrophysicist.

“Ah?” she shuddered. “Everything's fine.”

She picked up the bracelet and hurried after Sheila to the mess hall. But it made me think. The unbalanced and overly suspicious Russian is one thing, but the extremely preoccupied Chinese astrophysicist is something completely different – I have never seen such strong emotion on her face before. That's something to consider.

“If you're going to the mess hall, I can keep you company,” Anna distracted me from my confused thoughts again.

The mess hall was a fairly large room, which could easily accommodate at least a hundred people. Now it seemed empty. As we entered, I caught several curious looks from a few people sitting there. No wonder, I thought. We are probably the most interesting event in their lives. But, then again, maybe not, recalling what Trevor had said about the local species. It would be interesting to see them. Besides, what are we supposed to do now? Our mission has lost its purpose.

A dark-skinned man, whose appearance evoked thoughts of vegetarian cuisine, came to serve us food. His black eyes with bright whites, which created a stark contrast with his dark skin, shifted from one crew member to another.

“This is our cook, Raheem Khaji,” Dr. Hill said.

“I hope his meals aren’t quite as sour as his face,” another attempt of mine to lighten the mood with a joke, again failed, inevitably triggering Sheila's displeased stare.

Despite expectations, our lunch, dinner, or whatever meal of the day it was, included meat. We had chicken. Just a small portion, accompanied with some sort of boiled grass. In addition, we had porridge and tea, which, judging by the particles floating in it, had been made from the same grass as the side dish. Well, Terra Nova is anything but a gourmet paradise, I thought, picking at the gelatinous puree with a spoon. Anna came over with her tray and took a seat opposite me.

“Do you find our food unusual?”

“Compared to the nutrient solution pumped into my body for the last two hundred years, it's just ambrosia,” I replied and recklessly put a spoonful of the puree in my mouth.

The puree was expectedly tasteless, but it made the girl smile.

“What was the food like back on Earth?” she asked. “I heard there was some sort of a delicacy, oyster. Obviously, I've never tried it.”

“Well, it’s something like a sea worm in a shell. I've never liked oysters, they are highly overrated. I'd rather have a well-done steak with a glass of chilled wine.”

“A worm? Yuck!” Anna looked at me incredulously. “You are kidding, aren't you?”

“No. Why is he following us?” I pointed my spoon at Werner, who stayed at the entrance.

“Trevor probably asked him to keep an eye on you to prevent accidents. You're new to the base and MP.”

“What's MP?”

“You are definitely new here. It's what we call this world. Monster Planet, MP for short.”

“And the locals, what are they like?” I asked, sipping the unexpectedly good tea.

The girl closed up at once.

“Is something wrong?” I was already sorry that I had asked the question. Our relationship with this lovely girl was off to a good start and might blossom into something bigger. Although two hundred years in a capsule could have a negative effect on my body, I thought uneasily.

“They are aggressive, bad,” Anna replied. “They kill us. They must be exterminated.”

“Wow, such thirst for blood!” I pointedly raised my eyebrow in surprise.

“When your friends are murdered, the blood of your enemies seems – how did you put it? – like ambrosia.”

I chose not to say anything. Perhaps she had the right to say that, who knows.

“Are they really intelligent?” I asked instead.

“Yes and no.”

“What do you mean?”

“They are organized, social, but at the same time incapable of creative thinking. Many of their actions are instinctive, genetically coded, I believe. Like ants. I can't provide more details, I'm not a biologist.”

“But have you seen them?”

“Yes, unfortunately,” a grimace of disgust distorted Anna's pretty features. “I hope never to see them again.”

It was Finn who distracted me from the conversation.

“Max, get up. We have to get together and discuss the situation.”

“Anna, excuse me. It was very nice talking to you,” I said to the girl, standing up, “I hope we'll continue next time?”

“Absolutely,” the girl smiled, leaving her seat.

“You, French folks, just never change,” Finn commented, watching her go. “But we do have a lot to discuss, so let's meet at my place.”

A quarter of an hour later, after a short stay in my own compartment, I arrived at the commander's room. I came second after Boris and perched on the bed. Finn took a stool, while Leonov was sitting on a chair next to him. They looked like conspirators. The Russian astronaut was saying something, but stopped as I entered.

“I think we should present your theory to Max,” the commander told the biologist.

“What theory?” I asked, looking at my crew-mates.

“Boris thinks we haven't left Earth,” John continued.

“An interesting idea,” I remarked, looking at the frowning biologist. “Are there any arguments to support it?”

“Just open your eyes! Does it look like a space base to you?” Leonov rattled on. “And this tall story about new drives just doesn't hold water. Only a naive Asian could fall for such nonsense.”

He was obviously referring to Ji Cheng.

“Well, everything seems logical,” I noted, standing up for our astrophysicist.

“Oh, really?” the biologist threw up his hands, his sunken eyes darting nervously from me to Finn and back again. “I'm telling you, they're doing an experiment on us. Just like the flight to Mars! Do you remember? When they just locked up the crew on Earth.”

“But the participants knew it was staged,” the commander intervened.

“That's it. That's right,” Leonov quickly interrupted him. “They knew it, but we don't. Why? We've got to find an answer to this question. Why are they experimenting on us?”

“I think you're crazy,” I told him bluntly. “Some side effect of the conservation maybe.”

Leonov paused and looked at us. The commander's face showed doubt and pity. It was obvious that he agreed with me completely. The Russian got really worked up.

“I know better! I'm a doctor and a biologist, not you! What is it, do you think?” he asked, raising his hand.

“It's your right hand,” Lisa replied, entering the compartment.

“No,” Boris said after a solemn pause, “This is a bracelet they use to track us and take readings.”

“What's going on?” Lisa asked, perplexed. “Did I miss something?”

“Yep,” I said. “Our learned friend has put forward a conspiracy theory. He believes that there was no flight at all. Instead, we are a part of some experiment on Earth.”

Lisa eyed the biologist suspiciously for a moment, then turned to Finn.

“You know what? I do believe that something is wrong here,” she said.

“And not you alone,” John replied, “which is why we are here. By the way, where's Cheng?

“Powdering her nose maybe. I'll go get her,” Lisa went out.

“Listen, Boris. We readily support your point that this place is weird. But it's quite easy to check your theory. Why don't we…” I stopped mid-sentence, interrupted by a scream from the corridor.

“It's Lisa,” Finn said, as we rushed outside. The door to Cheng's compartment was open. I saw the ubiquitous Werner quickly entering the room. We hurried after him.

Lisa was standing there with her back to us. Cheng was on the bed, dead. Her eyes were rolled back, tongue out. Leonov elbowed his way to the body and felt for a pulse.

“She's dead,” he stated dryly. “Undoubtedly strangled, there are traces on her neck,” the biologist turned and looked at us, as if trying to say, “See? I told you.”

Lisa just stood there, her eyes wide with horror, hands pressed to her mouth. I glanced at Werner, but failed to read anything on his stone face. Not a single emotion. Although, maybe there was just a tiny flash of bewilderment. Or maybe I misread the expression. Anyway, his face showed no sympathy, he was absolutely calm. Could he be observing his own doing? I shifted my gaze to his powerful biceps and knobby hands and easily imagined him strangling Ji Cheng.

“That's enough,” John broke the silence. “Werner, take us to Trevor, we want to know what's going on. Boris, please stay here.”

Werner nodded calmly and went out into the corridor. He waited until we left the room, then took us to the base commandant.

Nobody spoke while we walked along the corridor. Anger raged inside me. Who could do this to our astrophysicist and why? At the same time, I had a feeling that everything happening to us was unreal. We didn’t have enough time to get familiar with the situation around us. We did not understand it. The murder was like a bucket of cold water. Cheng. I looked at Werner's broad back. I was growing increasingly convinced that it was this creepy Bosch who killed my crew-mate. Anger was rising along with confidence. But why? Why would he do that?

Soon we reached the compartment door. There was an intercom on the right. Werner pressed the button. Trevor's voice came from the device, he could probably see us via the camera.

“What happened, why are you here?”

“Emergency situation,” Werner replied. “Murder.”

“Come in.”

A pneumatic actuator hissed, the door split in two, disappearing into the wall. We followed Werner into a large office. There was a table and a dozen chairs in the center. Next to the large metal table, there was a small desk made of plastic or wood, supporting two transparent three-dimensional displays. The office was devoid of any decorations. It was obviously used for meetings only. A door opened on the other side of the room and Trevor came in. He was wearing a black sweater and light-colored uniform pants. His face looked worried. Trevor invited us to sit down with a gesture and took a chair at the small table.

“Report,” he looked at Werner.

The latter was about to speak, but John Finn beat him to it.

“Someone killed a member of my crew. We must find out who did it and why. What is going on here?”

Edward Trevor pressed a button and gave an order into the intercom, addressing the security service chief.

“Vincent, you there? Come here now, we have a murder.”

“This is a very unpleasant incident, Mr. Finn,” he continued, looking straight into our commander's eyes. “It has never happened here before. And I want to understand what happened as much as you do. Werner, are you sure this is a murder, not an accident?” Trevor asked.

“Yes. Definitely. She was strangled,” he replied calmly.

“Where were you when it happened? I asked you to help our guests.”

“I was literally five minutes late. Just exchanged a few words with someone. I could not have possibly imagined such a thing happening inside their compartments,” Werner blurted defensively.

Maybe it wasn't him after all, I thought when Vincent Taney came in. He walked forward and sat down on Trevor's right, giving us a gloomy look.

“Tell me everything,” he asked Finn.

“What is there to tell?” the usually phlegmatic Englishman started to steam up. “After lunch, we gathered to discuss the sudden turn in the fate of our expedition and found that Cheng did not show up. She was our astrophysicist.”

“I remember,” Taney replied.

“Lisa,” Finn nodded at Lisa Small, “went to check up on her and found her dead, strangled. We all saw the body. Now it's your turn to tell everything!”

“I don't quite understand…” the head of the security service was confused.

“What is this place and who kills my crew members?”

“Okay, just calm down, please,” Trevor raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture. “Why do you think it's someone from the base?”

"Who else? We were all together.”

“But,” Taney intervened, “when you returned from lunch, you were all alive. And you didn't get together right away, did you? Only after a while? Was anyone around?”

“I was the first to come, and the body had already been found,” Werner said.

“Did you meet anyone in the corridor?” Trevor asked.

“No,” Werner replied.

“So, Captain Finn, it turns out that your crew has to answer some questions,” Taney eyeballed Finn, who fell silent. “Including you.”

“You should include Werner as well,” I ventured. “At least Werner, he might be lying.”

Everyone stopped speaking, engulfed in uneasy thoughts. Silence hung thick over the table. Werner gave me a hostile glance, I responded in kind.

“Why would someone from my crew do it?” Finn wondered.

“We will find out,” Trevor replied. “It seems highly unlikely that in a few hours any of us developed such antipathy toward your astrophysicist as to kill her.”

“Cheng could be murdered to keep something hidden from us,” I rejoined the conversation.

“What might it be?”

“How would I know?” I looked away into the corner, gathered my thoughts and continued. “Some of us believe that we are still on Earth. Where is our lander?”

Trevor and Taney exchanged glances.

“That's a bold statement,” the base commander drawled. “What could have caused such distrust?”

Instead of a reply, meaningful silence followed.

“All right then,” Trevor said and turned one of the three-dimensional displays so that we could see the image. “Have a look. Show the surface,” he ordered.

On the display, which consisted of a multitude of transparent layers, an image started to emerge. Regardless of a view angle, it looked like a window to another world. We saw a gray desert flooded with pale orange light pouring from the sky covered with ragged dirty clouds.

I don't know about the others, but a feeling of hopelessness came over me. It was the first time I realized that I would spend the rest of my life in this desolated place, which inspired no optimism at all. I imagined the ultimate goal of our journey very differently. And I could do nothing but ruefully watch a gust of wind lifting a cloud of dust from the ground and driving it toward the distant horizon.

“It can be a render, like a computer game,” Small spoke for the first time.

Trevor made a grimace, glanced at Taney and attentively regarded everyone at the table.

“Why don't you believe us?”

“There are a lot of strange things here. And Cheng is dead. I'm sorry,” John said. “Your base bears little resemblance to our idea of planetary stations. Of course, many years have supposedly passed, but still…”

“Ah, great!” Trevor leaned back on his chair. “I don't believe in anything before I touch it, right?” he looked at us again. “I'll give you a tour of the surface, if that's what you want. But we will also find the killer, and I think it’s one of yours. Now I'd like to get back to my duties. And I would recommend that you take your part in the life of the base as soon as possible. I know you have just emerged from conservation, but we lack hands to maintain all systems, so any specialist is worth their weight in gold. Taney will interview each of you in turn, please be cooperative.”

“All right,” our captain said, getting up.

We got up as well and silently left the office. Taney stayed with Trevor, and Werner took us back to our rooms. Boris waited in the corridor, nervously pacing back and forth. When he saw us, he rushed to Finn.

“Captain, Dr. Stein and Sheila took Cheng's body to the morgue. I'd like to assist during the autopsy. Could you arrange it with Trevor? According to Dr. Stein, we don't belong to the base staff yet, so a special permission from the superiors is required.”

“I'll see what I can do. “Now please come to my compartment, we need to discuss our deplorable situation.”

We were despondent. Everyone's face expressed grief for Ji Cheng mixed with bewilderment. The captain spoke up.

“I have to ask,” he said after a pause, “if anyone had a personal conflict with Ji.”

“What are you talking about?” Leonov snarled. “We passed the compatibility test.”

“I don't know,” Finn said abruptly. “Everything is possible. A love triangle, for instance,” he looked at Boris and me.

“Then why would you exclude yourself and Lisa?” I retorted angrily.

Finn sighed. Then seated himself on a chair.

“I think it's Werner,” I looked straight into the captain's eyes.

“What about his motive?” he asked.

“Ji saw something she shouldn't have, and she would tell us about it.”

“I agree with Max,” Leonov said.

Finn looked at Lisa. She nodded.

“I'm sure it's not one of us.”

“Fine,” the captain concluded. “Let's accept it as our operational assumption. But she was always with us, what could she see? And it turns out that Lisa and Werner were walking toward her room from both sides of the corridor. Is Werner the prime suspect?”

“Unless someone snuck in earlier,” I said. “There wasn't much time, but just enough to make it through the corridor.”

“What do you think about the base?” Boris asked.

“Trevor showed us the surface on the display and promised a tour. It's not Earth, I'm inclined to believe him.”

“Hopefully, it's true,” the biologist lowered his head, but then raised his gleaming eyes again. “There is something strange here, but I can't nail it down.”

“It's clear enough from Ji Cheng's murder, and we must find out what it is,” Lisa said. “We are going to live here for the rest of our lives, unless a ship from Earth arrives.”

“I think we should have a rest,” Boris said. “Tomorrow I will initiate a thorough physical examination. DC is not a wellness procedure, you know.”

I took a shower and was sitting on my bed mulling over the recent events when somebody knocked on the door.

“It's open,” I replied, thinking that given Cheng's death, it wouldn't hurt to start locking the door.

Unexpectedly, it was Anna.

“Max, that's terrible! Sheila told me about the murder,” she said in a manner much more informal than before. “This kind of thing never happens here.”

“Please sit down,” I offered.

“Have you talked to Trevor?”

“Yes.”

“What did he say?“

“He said there would be an investigation,” I shrugged. “He believes it's one of us.”

“It can't be you,” she said adamantly.

“Thanks, but you don't know me well enough.”

“I just see it. I feel people. But your shifty-eyed friend could well be the killer.”

“Leonov? Nah, he wouldn't hurt a fly. So, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I'd like to take you with me tomorrow to show the power supply systems of the base. You should get down to work as soon as possible, and being an engineer makes you my subordinate,” she smiled.

“Aye, boss,” her smile made me feel like melting, “but I can't come tomorrow. Leonov is going to torture us with medical tests. If he's satisfied, I will be at your disposal the day after tomorrow.”

“That's quite reasonable,” she said, getting up. “Well then, see you when you are free. Good night.”

I walked her to the door and locked it, because a danger foreseen is a danger half avoided. Then I dropped on the bed and passed out.

Day 2

My sleep was unceremoniously interrupted by the sound of someone smacking their hand on the door, and it took me a while to realize where I was. Luckily, Boris Leonov's voice barking from the corridor brought me back to reality quickly enough.

“Max, John, get up. Sheila is already waiting; they've provided me with a full set of equipment for one day only. Come on, Lisa is already here. We are waiting for you two.”

I valiantly suppressed the urge to pull the blanket over my head and tell the Russian to get lost. Five minutes later I was in the corridor, a minute ahead of the captain. We greeted each other.

“Follow me, you lazybones,” Leonov led us down the corridor.

We took an elevator down to the medical bay again, but not to the compartment where our capsules were. Boris handed me and John over to Sheila's care and nudged Lisa into another room. There were two scan beds against the right wall. Sheila told us to lie down there. She had a disgruntled look again. Maybe it's her natural expression, I thought, making myself comfortable. I knew a guy like that back in college. Everyone thought he was an idiot, because he smiled all the time when he talked. Then we found out that his facial nerves had been damaged in an accident.

Of course, scans were just the beginning, Boris wouldn't stop even for a moment. He rushed back and forth, muttered something under his breath, made us undergo tests, took samples. Dr. Stein came to check on us a couple of times and, having witnessed all the frantic activity, went somewhere about his business shining with content.

Taney visited us once. Obviously, he wanted to ask a few questions about the murder. He just silently stood at the entrance for a couple of minutes, then left without uttering a single word, rightfully considering us too busy at the moment. Leonov kept harassing us on and on. Even during lunch his hovering presence was so annoying that the food stuck in our throats.

In the evening, unexpectedly for all crew members who accepted the fate of endless suffering, he declared, “That will be all for today, I believe.”

“Are you absolutely sure?” John asked ironically, putting on his shoes.

To our dismay, Leonov kept silent for moment, quite seriously trying to recall what he could possibly miss.

“Yes, you can go. I'll check the tests.”

“Let's have dinner,” Finn suggested. “I'm exhausted. I wonder how this maniac keeps on his feet, not to mention his eagerness to check the tests.”

“I can hear everything,” Boris' loud voice commented from the next room. “You see, I just love my job. But you wouldn't understand, would you?”

“It was a joke, right?” John asked.

“In his case, you never know. Come on, I'm sick of this place,” Lisa said.

The three of us headed to the mess hall.

The dinner was not very diverse. I already knew that two floors of the base were occupied with farms: one for chicken and eggs, the other for vegetables. They took water from the borehole, but it was not enough, so the waste water was filtered and used for technical needs. Breathable air was created artificially by means of biotechnologies.

I was listlessly picking at the green mass on my plate and listening to Finn, thinking that it would be nice if the local cook, Raheem, was a yoga instructor – this way he would have nothing to do with me or cooking.

“Today I also plan to discuss our place at the base with Trevor, as well as an excursion to the surface to our lander,” the captain was saying.

“We also need to know how and when Cheng's funeral will be arranged,” Lisa said.

“I think they cremate bodies here, but I'll clarify this question,” Finn answered. “Hey, Max, what are you thinking about?”

“About Cheng, what else?” I dropped my spoon with distaste. “I'm trying to understand the motive. Because that’s most important. I can't let go of the feeling that we all saw something, but couldn't realize its true meaning. We missed it. And she didn't. I keep replaying the events in my mind, but I can't point my finger on anything, except that she often checked her watch. But why? To monitor the flow of time? I don't understand why. She was a physicist, so she could know something that we don't. I have no idea.”

“I'm thinking of something else,” Lisa said. “About justice. It's truly sad how Ji ended up. A person grew, studied, aspired to something, to the stars, dreamed. Then some bastard just cut it all off. And we were powerless, we failed to help her.”

“We'll find the culprit, we will,” Finn said. “I'm going to see Trevor now.”

“I don't know, I'm not so sure we'll find them,” I muttered as the captain was leaving.

Lisa and I got up and went to our rooms. The mood was foul. I wanted to talk to Boris, but his door was locked, he probably hadn't returned from the medical bay yet. Exhausted by the tests, I fell asleep quickly enough, but my sleep was troubled. I dreamed of monsters – green, with huge eyes like black holes. They were stretching their hands with branching fingers to my neck. I knew I had to run, but I couldn't. My leg muscles seemed to have lost all their strength, they wouldn’t respond to my brain's frantic orders urging them to move, my knees trembled and buckled.

Day 3

A knock on the door. I opened my eyes. This was becoming a tradition.

“Who's there?” I asked.

“Anna,” a voice from behind the door answered.

“Just a moment, let me put something on!”

“Hello! Today I will finally take you with me,” she smiled, entering the room, a tool bag over her shoulder.

“Good for you, but I need a shave,” I replied.

“Oh, do you?” she asked slyly, “A light stubble looks fine on you.”

“May I at least brush my teeth, boss?”

“If you insist,” Anna chuckled, and I went to the bathroom, running my hand over the stubble.

“I also need to report to Finn.”

John was at his room.

“Come in,” he invited us, stepping aside from the door. “Max, I was about to come to you myself to tell you that you are now at Anna Ericsson's disposal.”

“Did you manage to talk to Trevor yesterday?”

“Yes,” said Finn thoughtfully.

“And?”

“You will work under Anna, me – under Alexander, Trevor's deputy. I will do administrative work and maintenance of non-standard equipment.”

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