Phillip Peterson - The Dark Ship

His deflective shield was defective.

Jeff felt a shiver go down his spine and stars dance in front of his eyes. How could they have been so blind? How could he have been so blind?

Jeff let Joanne slide to the floor and straightened himself. Green stared at him, his face still frozen in a grin. He must have guessed what was going on in Jeff’s mind, because he began to walk toward him. “Everything OK?”

Jeff took a step back and shook his head. “It’s you !” he husked. “You’re the demon.”

Green came closer. His grin widened. “Now, now,” he said, as if admonishing a child. “Who would want to be so rude as to insult his host?”

There was something in Green’s face—something strange that Jeff hadn’t noticed before. An evil grimace just below the surface that was now revealing itself. Jeff felt his pulse quicken and his hands turn clammy. He was standing right in front of the demon that had caused so much suffering, simply for his own perverse pleasure. All he had to do was reach out his hand to touch him. Instinctively, he knew he was no match for this sinister creature. He had to get away.

As if Green had read his mind, he began to laugh. It was a tinny, cackling laugh.

Jeff turned around and made a dash for the open hatch. He couldn’t face his opponent here. Green’s laughter echoed after him.

Jeff stumbled through the dark corridor, gasping. Every few feet he passed blood-red lights embedded in the wall. Finally, his panic subsided. He turned around. The demon hadn’t followed him. He gasped for breath and grabbed onto a yellow and black wall strut.

What should he do? He didn’t stand a chance against this creature.

How could he have been so wrong? He’d been convinced Joanne was the one who was possessed, like Owl before her. Was it possible that the demon was able to possess several people at once? Was Green also responsible for the deaths of Fields and Irons? What if Jeff simply went back and shot Green? Would the demon allow it to happen? And if he succeeded, what then? Maybe he’d already replaced Green with an avatar. Would he be able to stop this devil from turning him into an avatar in this pseudo-hell, too?

It was all too much. Jeff lowered his gaze and glanced furtively at the pistol in his holster. Wouldn’t it be simpler just to shoot himself? Then at least he could rest in peace and not end up the plaything of an insane, godlike creature.

No, he knew he couldn’t do it. He had to find a way out of here. But how?

He trembled as he tried to breathe normally. Slowly, he continued to make his way down the corridor. A few feet further on, he came across a dark-gray metal door in the wall. The edges were marked with black and yellow paint. Maybe Jeff could find something that would help him or at least give him an idea.

He touched the square on the wall next to the door. On the other side was what looked like a big hall. Jeff stepped through the hatch and his heart skipped a beat.

The hall was gigantic, with a diameter of at least several miles. It was filled with shelves and Jeff’s first thought was that he’d stumbled into a warehouse. But then his eyes fell on the neat rows of rectangular boxes that filled the shelves. He touched one of them gingerly. It was made of black metal and on the right-hand side were a series of depressions and switches.

Jeff ran a finger over the strange material. It was cold as ice. These must be the cryogenic pods of the passengers and crew. He walked back to a railing a few feet away. The shelves with the sarcophagus-like containers continued not only upward but also downward. He couldn’t begin to guess how many levels this gigantic hall had, because the rows of shelves disappeared into a reddish mist far below. There must be thousands, no, millions, of cryogenic pods in this hall alone. And God alone knew how many of these halls were on the ship.

Was his father lying in one of these containers somewhere in this hall? It would be impossible to find him.

“Jeff!” Green’s voice echoed through the hall.

He looked around but couldn’t see anybody. He must be hearing the voice over a loudspeaker.

“Jeff,” the voice repeated. “I know where you are.”

Jeff closed his eyes and sighed in resignation. Of course, the demon had him under constant surveillance. He was trapped. It would never let him out again.

“What do you want from me?” Jeff cried out in despair.

Laughter echoed around the room. “What do you think?” That laugh again. “I want you !”

“What do you want from me?” Jeff repeated. His hands were balling into fists.

“I want you by my side. Come back to me.”

“And if I don’t want to?” Jeff asked angrily.

Another chuckle—this time quieter.

“There’s someone here who wants to see you again,” the voice said. “Describe the situation, my dear.”

Jeff’s stomach contracted. He knew whom the demon was referring to. He had forgotten about Joanne. He’d run off in such a panic, he’d left her behind in the clutches of the demon.

“Jeff!” She sounded desperate. “I’m lying on the ground, I’m tied up. Green is leaning over me and holding a knife to my stomach.”

“Come back to us, Jeff,” Green said in a sickly sweet voice. “Or I’ll cut open your little friend’s stomach and describe what I’m taking out of it.” He cackled. “That is, if you can hear me through all the screaming.”

Jeff felt the blood draining from his face. He couldn’t bear that. He looked down at his pistol again and considered turning it on himself. But what would become of Joanne? She, along with his father, would still be at the mercy of the demon.

“Shit! Damn it!” Jeff punched the wall.

“Now, now,” Green’s too soothing voice came through the loudspeaker.

Jeff clenched his teeth. There must be something he could do!

The pistol…

He breathed deeply in and out. He wasn’t sure whether it would work. Above all, it would probably mean killing the real Green—if his spirit was still somewhere inside his body. But it was probably too late to save him, in any case. “OK. I’m coming.”

He retreated from the warehouse and stepped back into the corridor. It took him only a few minutes to get back to the antechamber.”

He could see Green some distance away, standing next to the entrance to the central hemisphere.

“Where’s Joanne?” Jeff asked.

Green tilted his head to one side and smiled. “She’s already gone ahead.” He pointed at the door next to him. “After you.”

“You’re really letting me into the innermost… sanctum?”

Green nodded. “Why not? There’s nothing you can do to me there. You can’t harm me. And anyhow, it’s necessary.”

Jeff didn’t even bother asking why. He didn’t want to go in, but he had to convince himself that Joanne was really there.

“After you,” Jeff said.

Green shrugged and turned around. “If you insist.” The door opened with a hiss and Green stepped through. Jeff followed him, although every cell in his body was urging him to go the other way.

Once inside, Jeff was reminded of holograms he’d seen of the Pantheon in Rome on Earth. A huge dome with a small hole at the very top. Along the walls were console-like instruments, but they were all unlit and did not seem to be in operation. There were no other doors. The only way in or out was through the door they had come. In the middle of the room was a round pillar. It had a diameter of several feet and was almost twice as tall as Jeff. A reddish ray of light slanted from the hole in the ceiling, illuminating the pillar like a surreal altar.

Joanne was lying on the floor a few feet away from him. Jeff hurried over and knelt beside her. He could see her chest rising and falling. She was alive, but unconscious.