Alex Gore - The Cube

“Do you believe them?”, Marcela sipped her coffee, interrupting the silence.

“Oh, not a bit.” Hans’s answer was quick and unhesitating. “We are all going to die here.”

“How did you come to this conclusion?”

“Well, think about it… This ship was constructed and launched into exploitation in the future. There are Russians here with us. You don’t doubt, I presume, that they report everything to Moscow.”

“So what?”

“Why have they launched it after two years, if they would know it ended with catastrophe? There s only one explanation: that we will all die here and nobody will find us.”

“That sounds very encouraging, Hans. You are always super optimistic, aren’t you?” Marcela said, her spirit fallen.

“Look, you understand that there is general relativity and all of this might not be happening.”

“I wonder what happened to the people on the ship,” Marcela could not stop thinking about the sailor, who had written the short and lonely sentence in his notebook.

“It might have come from there”, Michael suggested.

“Yes, they might have taken it on board unaware, it might have crawled on the ship and is now out hunting.”

The door opened and three armed men with grave expressions and bad yes rushed into the dining room. The Lieutenant and the two Sergeants stopped their military pace and stood at attention.

“Professor Rosenstein, you are under arrest.”

“What?” Hans stood up a little from his chair, unable to believe it.

“Please, gentlemen, this has to be a mistake!” Marcela was almost shouting.

“I am sorry, Major’s orders. Come with us, you will be placed under custody in your room.” The Lieutenant took Hans under the arm and dragged him to the door.

“Sir, the messages haven’t stopped at all”, the Lieutenant reported to Norman.

“Can you decode them yourself?”

“Of course, Hans left the code and the program… Actually, they come directly as words.”

“What do they say?”

“It’s in plain English, Sir, no coding whatsoever. Yet, I can’t make anything of it, Sir.” The Lieutenant looked confused.

“Go and bring me the scientist!” Norman literally shouted to the Sergeant at the door.

“Can I be explained what’s going on?” Hans said, coming into the room, handcuffed and accompanied by the Sergeant. “What kind of insanity is this?”

“You will answer before the law for what you did, Professor

Hans! Did you know Greg? Why did you kill him?”

“What are you talking about, Major? I don’t understand… really. There must be a huge misunderstanding here.” Hans needed to talk and acquit himself. He had spent a few hours in solitude and unawareness. He got to hear explanations. “You killed Greg. We have your fingerprints all over his body. Confess!”

“I don’t know what the hell you are talking about.” It was obvious that Hans was genuinely amazed.

“There is a procedure about these things, according to which you will be held responsible later. Now, tell me, what is this?”

I AM LIFE INSIDE YOU, I AM THE DEVIL

The inscription was shining on the screen. It was the latest message.

“I don’t know, Major. I really can’t say. I need time and space to analyze it… not only the letters but the figures too…

“Take off his handcuffs and give him access to the computers now. Let him sit here, but while he is working, watch him all the time.” Norman stood up, he needed to check the safety measures at the base. “When I come back in an hour’s time, I expect you to be ready!”

At this moment the room whirled under their feet.

A stunning explosion cut through the air.

The shock wave sent everyone lying on the floor, while the tables and the computers collapsed over their heads. The lights went out and for several seconds they were as if in a knockdown, hardly able to feel orientation who was where, which was ‘up’ and which was ‘down’.

The soup of people and objects soon came to the boiling point.

The mess was clearly seen when the emergency lights went on and everybody searched the eyes of his nearest neighbor in order to make sure he was alive.

The first one to regain control was Norman. He stood up, looked through the window and started giving orders:

“There is an explosion in the dome next to this one. I’m going there to check what’s going on. Lieutenant, restore the order in the room and continue with the work. Be sure to watch Hans, never take your eyes off him. I need the answers as soon as possible. Am I clear? The rest of you stay here and nobody move. Understood?”

“Yes, Sir!” The Lieutenant also rose and helped the plump scientist get up. The rest were getting up from the floor, shaking the dust off their clothes. Nobody was seriously wounded.

Norman went out and saw that three of the buildings had turned into burning stakes. The dome to the right of the center, where the Russians slept and Alan’s, next to theirs, were totally destroyed, only the foundations were left to burn out. The guard on duty had descended from the tower and was trying to put out the fire with the help of two other Sergeants.

“What happened?” Norman asked them.

“Alan and the fat scientist came and put the buildings on fire, throwing burning sticks, but they have clearly put explosives beforehand, since everything was instantly in flames like a torch.”

“Impossible, both of them have been with me in the control room for the last half hour.” Norman turned back to the control room. If there was any explanation at all, it was in Hans’s mind. He was their only hope.

“I think I know what’s going on, Major” Hans said without taking his eyes off the white sheet.

Nobody of the people, present in the room, uttered a sound, they were all gazing intently at the plump mathematician. “The message you have received, is true.”

660052153 054660039231

660153492669349231 534920392

660 052153 349231053660054

I AM LIFE INSIDE YOU I AM THE DEVIL

“But it can be seen in another way”, Hans started explaining. “The aliens, unaware about how human brain works, sent another message, to which you did not pay attention.”

660 052153 310293231

349231053660054 660153492660231 293920392

I AM THE DEVIL INSIDE YOU

“What does it mean?” Norman interrupted the silence. “This thing… these alien creatures are testing us.”

“Testing us?! Come Hans, how do they do it? And why would they need such a crap?” Alan interfered, the sceptic as always. “I killed Greg!” Hans said.

Sergey entered their room. Ivanov was sorting his luggage. He was throwing his personal belongings from the shelf into a big bag on the floor, while his clothes were strewn on the bed. He was moving hurriedly and when the young scientist came in, he did not even look at him.

“What are you doing, Ivanov? Where are you going?”

“I’m doing what needs to be done, Seriozha, duty calls.”

“Don’t be stupid.” Sergey knew enough about his room-mate’s nature by now. “What are you planning to do?”

“Seriozha, my friend, come with me, we cannot allow this thing to fall in their hands. Our people needs it, otherwise we’ll destroy it. These are orders from Moscow and if you are a true patriot, you’ll come with me.”

“Don’t do it, Colonel, let’s talk…”

At this moment the door opened and Michael rushed in. He looked at them with bloodshot eyes, raised his gun and without aiming, shot first at Sergey.

The young man with disheveled hair fell on the ground with a groan, clutching his chest, while Ivanov reacted like a true military man – he dashed at the young American and started punching him with his fists on the head. No human being would survive even a minute under the stony hits of that giant. But Michael seemed to have acquired inhuman force. He overthrew Ivanov with a mighty suplex, caught his neck and started suffocating him. At this moment three gunshots banged.