Chapter 12: Partial Daylight

It all seemed to be a dream for Zalika. A day had passed as the memories seemed never to escape her. She remembered it all, and they were memories that she never wanted. For her, she remembered everything. Being flushed out into space, being picked up by the shuttle that dropped them off to the Columbus, to begin with, and the aftermath seemed to fill her thoughts.

She remembered one final event yesterday before she passed out in the shuttle. She still had the thoughts run around her. Having to explain that the Emphra had overrun the Columbus was downright shocking to the crew of the Paul Jones. Bekra added her testimony as well. The data and recordings were all submitted to Faizan. The marines and staff were all gone except themselves.

The sacrifices of the many were not forgotten. Faizan ensured that the shuttle was at a safe distance as the UHN battleship opened up its missile tubes and unleashed a small volley of nuclear warheads onto the Columbus. Zalika remembered watching the film footage as the shuttle witnessed the salvo of missiles as it flew from the Paul Jones and towards the ghost ship. The Emphra could not spread and must never spread. The Columbus would receive a proper burial in space.

She remembered the darkness of the Columbus as an enormous flash of light from the nuclear weapons penetrated the hull. A bright blue ball of pure light erupted from the center portion of the ship. It was quiet as the atomic explosion incinerated the vessel from within almost instantly. Everything that the Emphra had taken would be gone. The Columbus was no more as the light slowly began to fade away, and darkness had once again filled the void of space.

Back on Eutera, everything seemed to be a typical day for most of the colony. For Zalika and Bekra, they stood in the hallway that led to the Major’s stateroom. The base was quiet and most notably empty. Its halls lacked individuals or most of the personnel to keep it operational. For Zalika, she knew it was just another joke to add to the United Human Navy. Individuals were lost, and there was seemingly little to provide assistance for her.

She was dressed in her marine camouflage uniform as she looked over to Bekra, that was dressed in her same comfortable clothing as before. She had crutches that helped her move around as she lacked a leg to be able to walk correctly.

The hallway was the same as it was the previous day. The place’s emptiness was getting to Zalika as she began to ball her hand to a fist. Bekra seemed even less emotional than the day before as she could see Zalika tensing up. Their walk together to the top COC of the military base seemed almost outright daunting and impossible of a task. Especially after the events of the day before.

“Are you alright?” Bekra asked Zalika.

“No ... well ... yeah ... after all this shit,” Zalika said, trying to mask her anger.

“You don’t plan on punching him, are you?”

“Oh, I am going to hit him,” Zalika responded by clenching her fist. “I made a promise to the marines that I would.”

“Please don’t,” Bekra explained to her as she tilted her crested head to her. “If you do, then it might endanger your career.”

“Hmmm ... I don’t know. I feel like my fist is going to be magnetized to his face,” Zalika said as she seemed to think about it. “No promises.”

Bekra seemed a little bit satisfied as she used her four fingers to grip the crutches with ease.

“You know, we do have a wheelchair available if you want it,” Zalika told her.

“I know, but I prefer to use this. I feel like I am walking even if I am not.”

Zalika looked over to her missing left arm. The augmented ligament needed to be fixed and repaired after the recent events. It was another annoyance for her.

“I lost an arm, and you lost a leg,” Zalika said. “The rest lose their lives. Now, this base is a ghost town. Might as well place a ‘For Rent’ sign up and be gone with this place.”

“I know ... I miss them all,” Bekra remarked.

“Too many ... too many good people. It just...” She paused as they stopped walking. A tear ran down her face as she wiped it away. Bekra had stopped as she hobbled on her leg. She put her hand to hers to console her.

“I am fine ... I am fine,” Zalika shook her head. “Don’t worry about me.”

Zalika kept something in her right hand as the chain dangled from it. It danced in her hand as she clenched her fist and opened it up. They kept their walking constant as they reached the end of the hallway of the building. They could see the carpet turn blue and red as they passed a board that consisted of pictures, awards, and even a commission medal of the Euteran military base. She knew that it was a humiliating reminder of the glorification of the UHN. All of this dedicated to a small tiny base on a planet in the middle of nowhere.

One of the pictures she looked at had an entire group photo of the marines taken months ago. A few had gone to other assignments, but most of them were dead now. It made her both sad and angry at the same time. She stepped up to the group picture, kissed her two fingers, and placed it on the photo to honor them. Bekra paused in her walk and gave a couple of quick nods.

They approached the door that led to the major’s stateroom. The words “COC stateroom: Major Marshall” was written in both English and Chinese on the door. The emblem of the UHN Marines was placed below it.

There was a moment that Zalika clenched her fist and was about to bang the door hard, but she calmed herself down and looked at the panel beside the door. She took a deep breath as she tapped the panel like some doorbell.

“Are you ready?” Zalika asked her.

“Yes,” Bekra replied.

“I wish Marshall did this yesterday instead of doing it today...”

“He wanted to make sure we recovered enough for the debrief. Don’t worry. I can do this ... just don’t hit him.”

Zalika said nothing in response. The door slid open to reveal a sizeable office-like room. It consisted of a fine wood varnished desk and a luxury vinyl chair. One side had a couple of displays that showed the camera feeds of the base. Another display had a series of news events that were being depicted but were placed on mute. The other side of the room was a restroom and a broad picture of Eutera taken from orbit. The aroma of the perfumes and pleasant office smell was aggravating Zalika’s nostrils as she almost used her hand to wave it away.

The major was a person with a pale complexion. A younger man, he was a clean-shaven marine officer with brown hair. He was partly skinny but wore his camouflage blue and red uniform. He had no emotion on his face as he stood up to greet them.

“Ah ... there you are,” Marshall said in a relative oblique and nonchalant manner. The tone began to aggravate Zalika the moment he heard his voice.

“Major,” Zalika addressed him as she entered, stopped, and used her only hand to salute him. “Corporal Zalika reporting for debriefing as of yesterday’s events. Centurion Bekra is a part of the debrief as well.”

Bekra used her crutches to hobble into the room. She gave a couple of quick nods to him. Her walking state prevented her from rendering any form of salute to him.

“Major Marshall,” Bekra addressed him.

Marshall stood up to respect the salute from Zalika. “Don’t bother giving me salutes. Especially after yesterday’s events.”

Zalika took a deep breath as Bekra stood up beside her. She felt her blood boil as she heard him speak. Her tail extended outward a little bit as the crutches kept her balance on her single leg.

“Roger, sir,” Zalika replied.

“Now ... we are here to begin the debrief on the events that transpired as of yesterday,” Marshall said in an almost annoyed manner. He tapped his left arm as a digital display was projected for everyone in the room to see. “I already have the basic reports given to me from Captain Faizan. I am here to get your report before passing my second official report to the UHN.”

“Wait...” Bekra asked him. “You already sent an official report to the UHN?”

“Yes, I did, Centurion,” Marshall replied.

“You should have debriefed us yesterday,” she said.

“I don’t need to ... especially after looking at you two.”

Bekra turned her crested head to look at Zalika. There was concern on her face. “Major, the UHN will not look at the second report in the same interests as the first.”

“Why bother?” Marshall said as he shrugged. “We already know what happened to the UHN Columbus and the marine team. I am just doing this for show.”

“So, in other words, you don’t really need us here?” she asked with some frustration.

“You were both injured. Nothing more needed to be said. I could...” Marshall paused as Zalika stepped away from Bekra. “What are you?...”

Zalika walked up, balled her hand into a fist, and delivered a punch to the officer’s face. The strike seemed to take the officer by surprise as he recoiled back in pain. It was perfect where it hit as the officer put his hand to his nose.

“You son of a bitch!” Zalika yelled at him. “You ordered us to our deaths! You didn’t even take into consideration what we were going through!”

Zalika felt pain from her knuckles as she walked back and rejoined her friend. Bekra put her hand to her beak-like face as she rebalanced herself on her crutches. The officer staggered a little bit in his chair as he took his hand away to reveal blood that was coming down his nose. The officer seemed to sneer a little bit.

“Should have figured that you would have done that,” Marshall said.

“I owed it to my team and the ones that are dead ... sir,” Zalika replied as she gave a look of anger and intensity.

“Always the one to get yourself into trouble,” Marshall explained as he grabbed a napkin from the desk and began to wipe his nose. “One day, that will cost you your career if you are not careful.”

Zalika had been surprised to hear him say that. She thought she would be arrested for her actions, but the officer seemed to do nothing about it.

“Surprised?” Marshall asked her. “I admit that if you were new at your antics, I would have done more, but I understand the events that transpired. Perhaps I have a little bit of sympathy.”

“Sympathy?” Zalika questioned him. “You realize that this base is nearly empty now!? You realize the shit we just went through!? If it weren’t for the actions of the others, we wouldn’t be here talking right now!”

“Yes, and because of you, I now will have to be reassigned temporarily at Titan until they can get new personnel moved in.”

“How is she responsible?” Bekra questioned him.

“Centurion ... I have had to deal with her since she came to this base. Report after report would come in with the shit that she had done. I have had to tolerate it over and over again. If it weren’t for the fact of this conflict with the Aksren and Shal’rein clan, I would have had her kicked out of the marine corps. Only because of you and the T’rintar clan presence have you kept her at bay. All of the marines that perished ... and it had to be her that walked away from it.”

Zalika seemed to cringe her teeth. She balled her fist, but the officer was still wiping his nose. She knew the man only seemed to care about himself and was annoyed at the fact that he was being moved to a new location as an inconvenience.

“Do you not care that the others are dead?” Zalika asked him.

“Of course I do,” Marshall replied in his nonchalant manner. “I also know that you are emotionally distraught as well ... perhaps both of you ... but rules are rules, and I have to conduct this hearing ... so let it be done.”

“Of course, Major,” Bekra replied. Zalika turned to look at her before she calmed down. The sooner they get this done, the sooner they get out of this mess. She nodded her head in agreement.

The officer sighed. “Both of you were part of the team that was sent to investigate the distress call of the Columbus. Your teams split apart to go and check out the rooms, get the ship operating, and clear out any potential dangers.”

Pictures were being shown from his projection of the events of yesterday. Zalika took a deep breath as she tried not to think about it.

“Yes,” Bekra confirmed. “Zalika and I were in the ventral bridge with the Staff Sergeant as the rest of the teams were under attack by an entity that we know as the Emphra.”

“The Emphra... , “ the officer replied. “I read them up ... terrible thing to exist. First actual true aliens to ever meet. Continue.”

His words had no sympathy to it. Zalika seemed to bite her tongue as the officer continued to listen to Bekra.

“The Emphra attacked and began to do what they normally do in these sorts of environments. They find living things to consume, possess, and adjust it to their means. They were responsible for killing and reducing the crew of the Columbus to husks.”

“In other words, once they are taken over, it can’t be reversed?” Marshall implied.

“No ... Itrean physiology ... we have found ways to repel them, but it is hard to do so. You, humans, have nothing. Once they take a body, the only way to get them out is to kill the host.”

“They become zombies or puppets of the Emphra as they make more of themselves, liquefying the host if need be to achieve its goals,” Zalika added. “They can convert organic and nonorganic to their means and mix it together.”

“According to the reports from the Columbus,” Marshall continued. “The Columbus had taken in a piece of debris. The Emphra were in it, correct?”

“Yes. There were two of them that left the debris and found its way into the ship. They killed, started making nests, and tried to take control of the ship.”

“If it weren’t for the actions of the Columbus crew, the Emphra would have had full control of that ship,” Zalika added.

“And if they hadn’t taken it aboard, then they wouldn’t have had those problems now wouldn’t we?” the officer said. “Let me ask you something, Centurion. How do you know it was the Emphra, to begin with?”

Bekra seemed to give a questioning look at him. “I ... instinct. I saw the pictures of the flesh ... I remembered the pictures of my history and just knew it was them.”

“Your people fought them ... they fought them till they were all wiped out. It seems to me that the Columbus just found some artifact that had them on it. My question is, how do you know that this isn’t just some random alien life form or some experiment from the other Itrean clans? Are you sure that it is them?”

“Yes. I believe it was them. The pictures and data from my people can help verify all of this.”

There seemed to be a questioning look on his face. “I am left to wonder about that. I have to deal with the facts that are at hand. I have only 2 of the 17 marines that returned to me alive. The second and third highest-ranking officials of this base are dead. Whatever that thing was,” he said as he gestured to the video recording of the Emphra on the Columbus. “That thing was responsible for killing my marines. I want to know ... Centurion ... the Kig has been there for some time. I wonder ... did your people plant that creature there for our benefit?”

“What?” Zalika asked. “Are you seriously implying that her own people created that thing? How the fuck can you say that?”

“I have learned to be skeptical, Corporal. Not long ago, the T’rintar clan raided this planet and killed people. I might not have experienced it, but the others around her have. We create a pact with them. They might have left that debris and constructed that creature to go after us. Then they observe us and take notes on that. Bekra might be a part of it. Why else is she standing here alive talking to me?”

“You fu...” Zalika tried to say, but Bekra waved her hand while still trying to keep her balance.

“Major ... look at my leg,” the Itrean responded with a level head. “I did not choose to lose it. We have numerous pictures, data, and recordings, of the Emphra. If the clans did not work together, then we would have been dead. The Emphra would continue to spread using our own technology ... our own bodies and flesh ... then they would rain down on your worlds. What was left of the human race would be just like us. We would all be the Emphra as we spread to other civilizations until the ends of the universe.”

“You didn’t even bother to read up the Emphra,” Zalika added. “You didn’t even bother to read up about the whole events before our departure. You thought that this was a low-risk mission. Then you send us in.”

There was a slight growl in his voice as he took a deep breath. “I wanted to bring up questions on the events. Why did the Master Sergeant decide to go and investigate the habitation ring of the Columbus?”

“We picked up a single ping from one of the crew members of the ship,” Bekra explained. “Wei believed that this was a rescue mission ... all the way up until the team reached the nest.”

“He ignored the requests of the others to back away,” Zalika explained. “The dangers seemed to be there.”

“And I am supposed to believe that the Centurion decide to warn the Master Sergeant that she believed this ... Emphra was about to attack them? The convenience of your timing was ... poor ... possibly, even deliberate.”

The words continued to anger Zalika as he wasn’t hiding the accusatory tone in his words. There was a sense of betrayal that she felt. The Major might as well stuck a knife into her and twisted it.

“You weren’t there...” Zalika countered. “There was no way she could have known it was them, you son of a bitch. We were going through all of this when you were sitting in on your chair drinking coffee and thinking about your next promotion after this whole mission.”

“Please, sir,” Bekra tried to plead to them. “What we had to go through was rough ... horrific. Both of you ... please...”

Bekra’s words seemed to be a diffuser, at least for the time being. Zalika seemed to quiet down as Marshall briefly looked down for a moment before looking back up to the report.

“You question me about being ignorant, Zalika,” the major said. “Let me ask you both this. Let us go with the whole idea that it was the Emphra. In fact, let us go with the idea that this is the Emphra. The actions committed weren’t just anyone’s mistakes. Let us look at the team in general. Why did Wei decide to take Felix with him when they went to the ring?”

“I don’t understand the question,” Zalika asked.

“Wei took the person who had a spare power core to an area that was going to turn into a potential warzone. The computers were just as important to get operational. Wei decided that it was just as important to go and investigate a potentially hazardous area.”

“Felix was our lead recon marine of the team,” Zalika commented. She wondered where the officer was going to lead with this question.

“Yes, but why didn’t you or anyone else bring up the idea of passing the power core to the Staff Sergeant before going down there?”

“There was a black box in the centripetal ring,” Zalika answered. “Felix could have used it...”

The officer waved her hand at her to dismiss her claim. “Don’t try to bullshit me, Corporal. I knew you were going to say that. There is an auxiliary command room in that ring, but that wasn’t on Wei’s mind wasn’t it? Your team was left with nothing but a small reserve of power that would have barely gotten the main computers working at all. When this ... Emphra attacked, he was forced to toss the core up in hopes of you getting it.”

“What is that you are implying, sir?” Zalika asked.

“Corporal, these are the questions that the superiors are going to ask. The fact remains that stupid decisions were made. You get on my case about this? How about the fact that you didn’t try to get the main computer running, to begin with?”

“It wouldn’t have made a difference,” Bekra said. “The moment we would have gotten the power to work, the Emphra would have begun to expand. They would have committed to finding new ways to spread itself.”

“Yeah, but that was before the fact,” Marshall said as he paused. “Well? Care to explain?”

“I don’t,” Zalika answered.

Zalika could see that the Marshall seemed happy to win the argument. She bit her tongue. Perhaps the major might have been correct on this statement. There were some bad decisions that were made even if the situation was unattainable, to begin with.

“So...” Marshall continued. “According to the report, the creatures began to consume and possess the marines ... many of them could do nothing to repel them and were subverted by the entity. You gave a warning not to shoot them, and they still did.”

“The situation was uncontrollable, sir,” Zalika said.

“Centurion, I have the recording of you saying that. Mind if I play it?”

“No! I don’t want to relive it.”

Bekra shook her head. “I don’t need to hear it again.”

“Me neither. Once was enough.”

“They didn’t have the ability to fight this thing,” Bekra explained. “I warned them, but ... even I know that they were being blocked.”

“Yes... , “ Marshall answered. “I read the reports of the marines trying to survive this...” He paused as he moved the data report list up. “Your communication was cut off from the Paul Jones ... you lost two other teams, and then it was down to the Staff Sergeant’s team that was left.”

His words to Zalika continued to advertise his lack of care about the recent events. To her, it sounded like he was reading some event like it never happened.

“You decided that it was best to send in Private First Class Chuang to go and retrieve the power core,” the officer continued. “It resulted in his death ... care to explain?”

“What?” Bekra asked.

“You decided to send the lowest experienced marine to go and retrieve an important piece of equipment of your team. It had the least likely chance of it succeeding with him doing it. Why did you send him out there and not yourself?”

“You son of a bitch!” Zalika snapped at him. “How dare you come up and question us on this. He wanted to go out there.”

“Zalika had a weapon, but it needed that core,” Bekra added. “It would not function without it.”

“And what about you, Centurion? Why didn’t you go and get it instead of him?” the officer continued to question.

“I ... I...” Bekra paused as she looked away.

“Why is this even an issue?” Zalika asked as she exploded on him. “Chuang shouldn’t have even been on that ship, to begin with! An area of possible danger, and you send a kid fresh from boot camp in there! You let this happen!”

“When needed, every able-bodied marine available,” Marshall explained. “The moment he stepped onto this base, he was under my command. Even he would know, just as you, that orders are orders. The Master Sergeant felt entitled to agree with me on it as well.”

“I was with him...” Zalika used her one hand to press it to herself, as she explained. “I was getting him ready to work on this base. The kid had a good heart. His heart said that he was ready, but I know better ... that was the military training from boot camp. I could tell that there was fear in his eyes the moment he stepped on that ship. He was drilled into his head to follow every order down to the last and never question it. You took advantage of that when you sent him in. You could have stopped it, and you didn’t. Why not? You don’t have to worry about it ... all you have to do is just sit here ... and worry about being assigned to a new base because all your underlings are gone.”

The major shrugged. “You want to turn me into the heartless criminal, then go ahead. You know the oath of the marines. In war, we are all expendable.”

“Some are more expendable than others ... sir,” she angrily countered. The words seemed to echo in him briefly before he scowled.

“What did you say?” he asked.

“You heard me.”

Bekra could see that even though Zalika might have been right in her accusations, it was only infuriating the officer. She tried to stay with the topic.

“Marshall,” Bekra explained calmly. “I myself feel like you did over ten years. I dreamed of becoming an officer or an Adjunct in your human comprehension. There are all kinds of Itreans out there. Itreans get separated from the others as they order the warriors to their deaths. We let the excuses of our past hatred of the other clans become an excuse to go, fight, and gain glory from it. Glory is prestige, and prestige is life. Then Zilik’s disease came. My father died, my friends died, and I was ready to claw my wrists to end it. My people had the wisdom to ally with the humans. The Yutilians were wise to let the Aksren and Shal’rein families move to their space. It hasn’t been easy for me. Eutera has been a good home for me. I meet wonderful people ... friends, ... loved ones. I would die for them.”

Zalika calmed down as she could see that the officer was calming down too. Bekra seemed to be the key for this hearing to not turn out into an all brawl. Her anger seemed to dwindle just a little bit.

“These people...” Bekra paused as she shook her head. “The day’s events were tragic. I had no way of knowing that this was the Emphra. I felt the fear rise. I felt as if some ancient monster was going to eat me. There is no other way of describing that fear of yesterday. I believed that the Emphra were just ... as you humans describe as... ‘ghost stories’ ... but I know that it isn’t true. I didn’t know that it was them until it was too late. Now the many people that I call friends are dead.” She paused as a tear fell from her reptilian eyes. “Now I have to live with that. I was ignorant not to realize it. You were ignorant just as I was. Zalika ... you were ignorant as well. You knew about the story I told you about the Emphra. You didn’t suspect it was the Emphra as well until it was too late. We are all at fault, and now my friends are dead.”

Zalika could see that Bekra’s words seemed to diffuse the situation further. She felt ready to press this also, but she finally had to let it go. Further argument would just send her into a rage that would have meant breaking every bone in the officer’s body. She was well aware of this, and she had to calm down. She could tell that Bekra was looking at her, almost sympathizing with her claims. She could tell that she knew that she was in pain. Hopefully, some of it would run off to the Major.

Instead, he took another deep breath as he closed down the projection. He looked away for a moment as he looked at the two.

“I will be passing all of this report to the UHN command ... with the exception of you striking a fellow officer,” Marshall explained. “Is there anything that you feel that needs to be passed along before I submit it?”

“Yeah, I can feel a couple of things that should be passed...” Zalika said. “Oh, I definitely feel like adding a couple of good o...”

“Major,” Bekra cut off Zalika. “I feel that this is a new beginning of the Emphra. We may be facing a brand new threat that has never been eliminated. It is in my belief that the Emphra are still out there. These might be ... scouts ... or they could be a part of something larger that is out there. They are preparing to strike, and it could be my people or yours.”

“Centurion, I will pass that along, but might I ask why do you feel that way?” Marshall questioned her. “It sounds like to me that this is just some ... relic...” He looked at her hard. “If I am supposed to believe this, then these are stragglers from some large ship. The ship was either damaged or destroyed from some ancient battle. The debris floats in space, and the Columbus eventually finds it. That is all a big ‘if’ if it is all confirmed to be true. Even then, what would you suppose I do about it?”

“Start searching...” Bekra shrugged. “We search every sector of every section of space. Scour all the UHN. Kill them all ... before it is too late.”

“Bekra might be right,” Zalika added. “This might be a sign that the Emphra are regrouping somewhere to strike again. After everything we encountered.”

“Hard words to say,” the officer said as he put his finger down to the table. “Are the T’rintar clan going to believe you?”

“I ... have to try. They will be more likely to believe it when they see the evidence.”

“They are more likely to believe that this is nothing. As tragic as the events were, these were only two of them.”

“There are lots of them...” Bekra explained. “They made the clouds turn silver as they rained down. They used missiles to spread themselves from ship to ship. You think that a couple of them is something that is manageable? Each missile carried twenty of them. They get smarter too. Given the chance that these had, if it captured the Columbus, it would have full knowledge of you humans’ technology. Getting from target to target would be easier and quicker ... then they would reach a planet full of humans and life for the taking. Eutera would have been first and then all of the UWA.”

“She is right,” Zalika added. “The Columbus crew sacrificed themselves to stop the Emphra in their places. We need to have everything warned and start searching now.”