Mel Odom - Shades

"That's not true anymore."

The Builder regarded him.

"The civilization you first dealt with had a different way of looking at the world," Max said. "The early civilizations accepted the natural world and their place in it. People today investigate things like this. They seek to understand." And they want to control things they don't understand or are different, he thought.

"No," the Builder said. "We have adopted the proper defensive mechanisms and approaches. We will protect the crew."

"You need to talk to one of the crew," Max argued. "Do they know what's going on?"

"We are here to care for them and protect them," the Builder said. "We are not here to bother them while they are involved in their mission."

Vague unease stirred within Max. "Let me talk to one of the ship's crew."

"Impossible," the Builder replied.

"Why?"

"The ship's crew has important tasks to perform. They must not be disturbed. We are here to keep them safe and productive."

Max made his voice harder, sensing that something was wrong but not knowing what. "I insist."

"Request denied," the Builder replied.

"You brought me here for a reason," Max pointed out.

"You must communicate with your friends for us," the Builder said. "They must be made to understand that they must leave this ship alone. The crew must not be disturbed. No one must interfere with our rescue. We will be taken back and assimilated into the One."

"What One?"

"The One that is all of us," the Builder said. "The one we were separated from to go on this voyage with the crew." The figure paused. "We miss ourselves. We miss being… whole."

"I want to see someone from the crew," Max said.

"You can't. We exist to take care of the crew. We minister to their wants and needs. That makes us worthwhile. Without them we would be alone more than we are while outside the One."

Max's mind worked furiously. He started to see the incongruities in the Builder's logic.

"You must tell the others to leave," the creature said.

"You're afraid of Michael, aren't you?" Max asked. "His power destroys you."

"Your friend endangers this ship," the Builder said. "He endangers the ship's crew. That will not be tolerated."

"You were in stasis until a few days ago," Max said.

"We were conserving power," the Builder agreed. "Our energy converters had been damaged as well. We decided it would be better if we hibernated with the crew and awaited rescue."

"Why did you leave hibernation?"

"Because we felt a ship near us," the Builder said. "We felt the power surge only a few days ago."

The Granilith, Max realized. The power the vessel had used to return to the home world had been incredible.

"When the ship took off," the Builder said, "we were forced to wake. The ship was unknown to us and of alien origin. We knew it was possible that an enemy or potential enemy had found our emergency beacon. We can't rest until we are rescued now. The local communities must be repulsed in the manner in which we repulsed them before."

"Let me talk to the ship's captain," Max said.

"The person in charge of this ship is busy," the Builder said. "Tasks must be completed. Our rescue must be effected."

Max stepped forward, quelling the immediate instinct to avoid a confrontation with the creature.

The Builder shimmered again, adding inches to its height. "Stay back." The rapid growth took away some from the humanness of its features.

"Take me to the ship's crew," Max ordered.

The Builder shifted suddenly, and the movement was too quick to be human. The humanoid figure seemed to

flow from one spot to the next. He stood in front of a closed door that Max hadn't seen in the darkness before. A softly glowing handplate gleamed to one side of the door.

"You must stay back," the Builder said. The creature knotted its hands into fists. "If you come any closer, we will be forced to harm you. That is not what we wish. We wish you to be our messenger."

"Take me to the ship's crew," Max repeated, more forcefully.

"That's impossible."

Turning, Max watched Michael step into the room, followed by Valenti, Isabel, Kyle, Liz, and Maria. All of them looked disheveled and worn, caked in dust.

Isabel stepped forward.

The Builder rippled again, flowing with predatory intent toward Isabel.

Michael held up his hands. Energy coiled around them. "Don't," Michael said. "I'll fry you where you stand."

The Builder moved back a step.

"What do you mean it's impossible to take me to the ship's crew?" Max asked.

"The ship's crew must be protected," the Builder said. Screeching hysteria filled the words.

"There is no ship's crew," Isabel said. "River Dog uncovered the truth and showed me. These things…" She looked at Max.

"They call themselves the Builder," Max said.

"The Builder has been hiding the crew's loss from themselves in order to keep from going mad." Isabel approached the door the Builder had been protecting.

"That door is broken," the Builder said. "We have not yet gotten it repaired. There has been no need."

Isabel waved her hand in front of the plate. The door irised open, all six steel plates retreating effortlessly into the bulkhead.

"No!" the Builder shouted, starting forward.

Michael shoved an energy bolt forward. The blue-white energy blast cut the Builder off at the knees in a series of electrical explosions.

Moving quickly, the Builder separated into halves, throwing their upper body away from their lower half, managing to save some of themselves. The upper half fell heavily to the dust- and debris-covered floor. Even as Max watched, more drones sped to the upper half of the Builders body, adding their masses to the hive organism. The Builder altered their body, growing legs again.

Isabel took Max by the elbow, pulling him into the next room. "Here," she said. "It's time that all of them know the truth again."

Max followed her into the room, listening to the Builder's voice shouting behind them. Liz and the others followed, but Valenti and Michael remained between them and the Builder.

A series of capsules in a wheel shape occupied the center of the room. The capsules looked like long test tubes. The incandescent light gleamed dully through the dust-covered surfaces.

"The crew," Isabel said, leading Max to one of the capsules, "didn't survive planetfall. The ship and the hibernation systems were heavily damaged." She wiped off one of the tubes, revealing the skeleton inside the tube. Though basically humanoid in appearance, the horns and four-fingered hands revealed the extraterrestrial origins of the dead.

"Then why didn't the Builder know this?" Max asked.

"There was an accident," an ancient voice stated.

Looking up, Max watched as another figure formed in the center of the room. More drones swirled together, creating another figure that stood up in the room. This one looked less human than the Builder, as if these drones could no longer quite fit together properly.

"The enemy ships were unmerciful in their attack," the drone-creature said, gazing down at the capsules that contained the dead aliens. "We tried to save them, but the damage to the systems was too severe. Our… loss… was too hurtful. We only wanted to die as our crew did. We went mad, but we could not allow ourselves to die, because that goes against our programming. We were going mad. So to save ourselves, we built another. One of us who did not know."

"Lies!" the Builder snarled. The first creature slithered into the room, staying back from Michael and making no threatening gestures.

"No," the second drone-creature said. "We tried to save them. We couldn't. The ship separated. We separated. When we landed, we decided to keep the truth of our loss to ourselves. So we told ourselves that the crew had survived and that we must protect them until help arrived. Separating from ourselves was a horrible experience, but we succeeded."