LARC Transmissions - An Anki Legacies Science Fantasy Anthology for Young Adults

Life within Enceladus

Christy wondered what color the creature would be under sunlight. In the alien sea, the oceanographer's biomechanical eyes fixed on a deep green exoskeleton mottled with vibrant blue. She glanced at Rob, who had finally taken notice of the strange animal. Rob's synthetic gills flared open above his collarbone in a gasp for breath. Bubbles escaped his mouth as he spoke into the microphone implanted in his throat.

"That could be the biggest thing in Enceladus, " Rob said.

Christy heard through the receiver implanted in her ear.

"Those pincers could lop your leg off, " Christy replied.

Her short blond hair rippled. Christy and Rob departed before they could encounter the creature. Its fish tail beat the sea bed and sent plumes of silt up, partially obscuring features. Two knobbed thick shoulders above arms ending in pincers connected a plated lobster shell back with a rounded, neckless, head. On its belly dozens of little arms worked rapidly to capture fish to pass into a dart lined maw. The creature stretched ten feet from tail tip to searing yellow eyes, eyes that snapped to attention and locked on the two humans.

"We discovered aliens! This guy looks like a lobster on top and a dolphin on the bottom. Do you think we can talk to them? People back on Earth can talk with dolphins right?" Rob asked.

"We might be able to communicate, but it may decide we are a meal. Let's take caution and give this thing some space. He'd be better observed from the sea rover, " Christy replied.

Rob put a hand to his laser drill. The mining tool could bore through solid rock, and it would defend against this creature's pincers. Christy motioned for her partner to back away. They swam above the cave entrance without turning their backs to the animal. It remained motionless, and seemed to approve of their retreat.

The explorers used their synthetic fins, which connected at rib and forearm, to push away. Altered feet with long narrow webbed toes allowed Christy and Rob to double the distance between the creature and themselves in a second. Their eyes, gills, flipper feet, and arm fin implants proved necessary to live in the subterranean ocean nestled under the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The moon's elliptical orbit caused friction which warmed the water.

Christy had mapped a hundred geysers nearby whose temperature would spike to nearly two hundred degrees Fahrenheit, at a moment's notice. If the unfortunate passerby didn't boil, they got ejected onto the frozen lunar surface or directly into the vacuum of space.

Their expedition, the first, sought alien life and samples of silica, iron, and any precious metal which might be discovered. The League altered thirty men and women for the mission.

Rob and Christy continued their retreat, tripled and then quadrupled the distance, and the creature remained motionless. A shrill, rapid burst of sound resonated from the direction they headed toward. The explorers halted. A response chimed faintly to their left, and another still fainter to their right.

The green-blue creature lunged for Rob, pincers snapping violently. Rob dodged, but the creature continued to snap and lunge toward the man. The creature shrilled a cry in response to its partners.

"Christy, we have to swim. Maybe the both of us could take one, but I think we're surrounded."

Robert Mullen did not avoid a fight. A lifelong Jui Jitsu grappler and former rescue diver prior to the mission; Christy guessed that Rob had never run from anything.

"Up. Let's go straight up and hope these bottom feeders aren't able to get close to the ice ceiling, " Christy replied.

The pair pushed off the ocean bed and plumed a haze of silt in their wake. They stroked with every bit of strength and haste for long minutes. Rob planted an anchor into the ice roof of the ocean and the pair clipped carabiners on, allowing for a rest.

They peered into the depths for the strange creatures, and strained to hear their cries, reminiscent of dolphin song.

Tense minutes passed. Only the rapid inhalation of oxygen through gill slits could be heard. Only the glow of their own body heat could be seen. Perhaps the creature and its unseen companions did not dare to leave the ocean floor after all.

Their sea rover waited miles away, unmanned and nestled in a desolate valley on the ocean floor. The excursion had taken them farther than any group had ventured in the short weeks since their arrival.

Christy smiled at her partner. In sunlight her skin shone a deep tanned olive, indicative of her Greek heritage. Down here, with synthetic lenses, she looked a much deeper green.

He returned her grin, his paler complexion shone closer to lime. He ran a hand across his brow, a nervous gesture Christy recognized from their space journey.

Christy began to speak when multiple shrills cut in. The noise came from three sides and below them. Their respite enabled the creatures to surround them. The motion of a mottled shell and tail appeared from below.

Christy's face froze in horror. Rob unclipped from their anchor and grasped the laser drill.

"Stay right above me, " he said, pushing off the ice roof above. He bore down upon the back of the creature not more than fifty feet under. Rob stabbed with the laser drill.

The creature screamed in alarm and a tiny stream of dark fluid trailed out from the wound. A powerful smack of its tail knocked Rob on the base of his skull. He smacked into its approaching partner, the tracking device on his wrist crunched by the contact.

Rob went limp, Christy screamed and clutched her partner under his arms. She kicked furiously and attempted to escape. She felt the grasp of a dozen thin arms embrace her as another creature pulled Rob from her grip. Christy struggled against the grip until it squeezed so tightly she lost her breath. She faded into unconsciousness.

A pincer tore her tracking device free and examined it next to Rob's crushed unit for a moment, then both drifted to the ocean floor.

Christy dreamed of their first days on Enceladus. She heard herself murmur and the drowsed voice of Rob shared the dream of weeks past.

A shrill call kept the dreams focused upon their arrival and objectives.

She murmured that their homes came along with the explorers in vacuum sealed canisters that Rob kept calling coffee cans. They released the lids in an area close enough to a geyser for the shuttle to slip in and out, yet far enough to avoid the harmful temperature spikes and seismic activity.

Their outpost grew in an hour's time before their eyes. The crew marveled as a small city expanded and solidified despite foreknowledge of the genetically modified lifeform.

LARC Enceladan Outpost, was the colonial league's aquatic dwelling prototype. Scientists back on Earth had manipulated polyps to rapidly produce coral in the shapes of dwellings and to resume their natural lifespans after. The method's original purpose preserved the coral reefs that harbor much of the life in Earth's oceans. It not only housed the explorers but would potentially bring alien life to them.

******

Rob and Christy remained in their unconscious dream-like state for weeks. Their captors fed them a sea grass they had long used to place members of their species in a suggestive state to harmlessly hold, interrogate, and sustain them. The method worked well on these strange, soft, intruders.

The creatures listened to their deep, slow speech until they understood a few of their words, and then imitated the sounds. Others among their tribe followed Christy and Rob's directions to the outpost and spied upon the explorers who built a strange city where their people had gathered food since time before awareness.

They relished the word for their world and took to calling themselves Enceladans when they practiced communication in the human method.

A few Enceladans became fascinated with the creatures and kept Rob and Christy beyond when their tribe determined humans posed no threat.

******

"Speak of Earth, " a shrill voice directed.

"Most of Earth is covered in oceans, " Christy stammered. In the back of her mind, the explorer harbored suspicions of her long sleep. The dolphin shrieks had changed to requests for the most mundane information.

"Men and women live on the rocky surface, " Rob put in.

Having been under the influence of sea grass for long weeks, their bodies began to develop immunity to its effects. After a long, uneventful series of questions Christy's eyes flitted open and she watched as their captor swam off to forage.

In the desperate moments of realization that followed, her body began to slowly regain motor function. Beside her, Rob also began to stir. He reached out and grasped her hand. The pair exchanged desperate looks until able to speak to each other.

"Christy, how long have we been like this?"

"I don't know, but it must have been a long time. I swear that thing spoke to us."

Uncounted minutes passed while the two sat and attempted to wiggle fingers and toes. Eventually they stroked slowly to the mouth of a shallow cave. Christy pulled a slate from her utility pouch and located the sea rover in relation to their current position. The two slid quietly through the dark water, thankful to be on the outskirts of a community of the creatures.

Christy and Rob swam a few miles without break. After their long span of inactivity, neither would stop until the landscape became familiar. Muscles burned and synthetic gills pulled for ragged breath until at last a rocky outcropping provided a landmark, and hope for a return to their outpost.

The two hid within a knuckle in the formation and regained composure in silence for long minutes. When their breath rose and fell at regular intervals unstrained by exertion, Christy peered in the direction they had come from.

"I don't see anything."

"I swear I heard one of them speak to us. Not that high pitched whistle, but English. It asked us about Earth, " Rob shuddered as he spoke.

"I heard it too. That plant it kept feeding us must be like a drug. They must have wanted us to talk about ourselves until they understood."

"There are at least as many of these as there are people back at the base. What would happen if they decided we were anything but an amusement? Christy, we have to warn the others before those things find the base."

"We've been gone a long time. I hope it's not already too late." Christy reached for her slate to key in a message, but a shrill call froze her.

Somewhere ahead of them, a whistle answered in reply. The creatures had surrounded them once again. The pair stared into one another's shocked faces for a long moment before resolve hardened their features. Christy unclipped her belt knife and Rob grabbed at the empty holster for the laser drill, he had dropped it during their fight. Christy pointed and Rob grabbed a large stone near to hand.

Tense seconds passed.

The swish of the creatures sounded from two sides overhead. Rob signaled a three count and the pair launched off the sea bed toward their once and would be captors.

Both creatures stopped their approach. Rob's blow deflected harmlessly off the creature's raised pincer. The water's friction diminished much of the force. Christy buried her knife to the hilt in her target's belly between feelers. It belted an agonized shriek and fled desperately toward the surface out of sight, knife still embedded.

Rob rounded the stone back upon his pursuer and crashed down a blow on one eye, even as his opponent slashed on his shin. The creature was stunned and drifted into the outcropping of rock, where Rob and Christy hid seconds before. Blood coalesced lazily from the tear in Rob's wetsuit. He looked ready to faint, but Christy was there. She wrapped his arm around her and they swam until she saw a small cave.

"Let me take a look at it." Rob looked paler than usual. She hoped no predators hunted by blood scent in the lunar ocean.

"Is it bad?" Rob asked through clenched teeth.

"It cut right into your shin bone, but it would have been worse if the flesh of your calf lacerated. I think you'll pull through, Rob." Christy gave him a reassuring smile and opened the small first aid kit in her belt pouch. Christy smeared liquid skin on his torn leg and wrapped the laceration.

They ate nutrition bars and peered into the brine for the creatures. Rob speculated aloud that perhaps most had lost interest in them, save for the two they just fought.

Christy hoped their assault caused the pair to lose interest. In the newfound calm Christy reached for her slate, but stuffed a hand into an empty pouch. She swore and shook her head.

Rob never carried one. His pouch was lined with containers for sample collection. They had no way to pilot the sea rover remotely. Based on her best estimate, there were three miles separating them from the vehicle.

After nearly a half hour's recuperation, Rob urged Christy to continue. The pair swam in spurts from one hiding spot to the next, and then paused to check for signs of pursuit. While it proved slow going, neither wanted to invite another skirmish. The trek continued in this manner for hours. Their method took them round about which added to the distance. Rob seemed near the point of collapse.

"We need to rest, Rob."

"I know Christy. I'm tired too. I just don't know if I can sleep knowing those things could be out there, still searching for us."

"This alcove is as good a place as any. I'll sleep for an hour while you look out, then we'll trade." Christy settled in without waiting for response. She didn't know if sleep would come, but the chances of Rob resting got better if he thought she could use the break.

Rob's eyes grew heavy. His implants remained ever open like a bug eyed specter, but his natural eyes underneath drooped in a series of slow blinks. He roused Christy and nodded off as she stood sentinel.

Eerie silence surrounded their sanctuary. Small fish grazed on local vegetation, but none made a sound. Christy strained her hearing for that high pitched call. She should have been glad not to hear it, but it would have reassured to hear it faintly and grow ever less audible. Her partner slept heavily and she let him rest well beyond the hour promised. It would not do to carry on their trek with Rob's strength ebbing. Robert Mullen was the fighter after all. If protection could be had in the strange ocean it would be under his guard. She woke him at last when a faint whimper escaped his throat. A nightmare would not rejuvenate.

"Christy... Thank God. It must have been a dream."

"Don't worry Rob, it's been quiet. Here, we'll finish our rations now. Next break we have will be back at the sea rover."

They shared a meager breakfast and resolved to make a straight shot for safety. Hours had passed since their skirmish, without any sign of further pursuit. Time was critical to warn the outpost against an invasion of the locals, if invasion had not already occurred. Christy dismissed the dark thought, without time for ominous consideration.

The pair stroked with a brisk pace. They passed familiar landmarks and grew more confident of safe return with every moment. The rock shaped like a turtle, a narrow canyon, and a mossy plain of vegetation indicated they were close to sea rover.

An hour passed and Rob whooped in delight. The pair swam aboard the sea rover and punched in the base's location. Christy patched a comm link through to the base.

"Christy, Rob? We thought you two were dead! Your tracking signals went offline nearly a month ago, " the comm operator said.

"It's been a wild ride. How about you guys fix us a warm meal, and we'll catch up in twenty minutes, " Christy replied.

"You got it! I can't wait to spread the news that you guys are alright. I..." the comm officer screamed, and static cut into the channel.

"They are under attack!" Rob punched keys on the console and grabbed the controls. The sea rover sped toward its base. Two blue green mottled creatures clung to its underside as it sped away.

The sea rover entered visual range of the base, only there was a massive semi-transparent creature covering the settlement. Tentacles thrashed the coral walls, men and women ducked into buildings, desperate to avoid the beast. Christy and Rob swam out and toward the colony to attempt to sneak in unnoticed.

"You belong with us, " the sound shrilled, oddly paced, and inhuman.

Tail fin flashed from above. Four glowing eyes locked on the weary explorers. "We have not finished with you, " a second alien voice said.

Rob and Christy exchanged quick glances and grasped for rocks off the seabed. The welt on one's head and dark scab on its partner's abdomen confirmed these two had followed them to the base.

Rob launched himself toward the nearest and screamed to preempt his assault. He hammered the wounded trunk of the creature with his stone filled fist, spurting its blood into the water.

The Enceladan shrilled in pain and wrapped Rob between pincers.

The other Enceladan dove down on Christy and she swung her rock fisted hand in a wide haymaker, connecting with a bulbous eye. She smashed against the seabed even as it wailed agony and pulled a thick lid closed.

Before the fight continued, a dozen ropey limbs grasped Rob, Christy, and the Enceladans with electrifying jolts and a constricting grip.

Human cries and high pitched chirps rang in unison. Their scuffle had distracted the massive jellyfish from trying to pry humans out of their strong coral base.

The behemoth pulsated above them; its tentacles slowly coiling toward its center. Through its transparent skin, Christy could see a dead Enceladan being slowly digested in its belly. Tentacles coiled Christy together with her Enceladan opponent, her leg entwined with both its pincers. She desperately shoved one claw free.

"Cut it!" she screamed.

The Enceladan snipped at the limb, even as repeated jolts wracked them. Clear goo spurted out as the limb severed. The Enceladan raced to the aid of its partner, it snipped another tentacle while Christy tugged at the limb that snared Rob.

The strange oversized jellyfish billowed and flexed. It was indifferent to the loss of limbs. Other tentacles snaked toward the four.

"This way, " one of the Enceladans said.

He gestured deeper into the dead zone where geysers flash boiled the sea. Heedless of the risk within, the four swam desperately into the hot water with the hungry giant on their heels. A tremor began to rumble through the seabed.

The Enceladans led Christy, Rob, and the giant jellyfish deeper still until the water began to scald. They swam along the heat line. Christy hoped the giant would be deterred by the temperature, but the prospect of such a meal motivated against instinct.

Even as Christy felt her strength flagging she saw a dark spot on the sea bed and dove into it. The nook proved just large enough for the unlikely foursome to hunker into. Tentacles threatened to drag them out. Pincers snipped and stone laden fists smashed the grasping tentacles in defense. The ground rumbled harder still and Christy feared their burrow would collapse.

Suddenly their predator inflated like a sail in wind. The geyser burst through the icy surface of the moon, and sent the beast flying into the frozen void of space. The water temperature cooled to something a bit more bearable and the four recovered for a moment and took note of their uneasy position.

"We don't need to fight, " Christy said, breaking the uneasy silence.

A high voice shrilled "We only want to learn about humanity and Earth. That is why we kept you after the other Enceladans knew they need not fear you." Christy felt it was being genuine.

"We can appreciate that, and you guys did just save our base, " Rob said. "We are here to explore after all. Come and see our outpost, the others would be happy to meet you."

"Just don't give them any of that sea grass unless they ask, " Christy said, with an uneasy smirk.

Old Familiar Visitors

I exist to conquest worlds and control the indigenous populace. My creators intended the Nefilim for conquest. My kind dominated an entire planet's species in combat, and then built up what remained into their first society.

We artificial beings taught the unwashed masses to till the earth, record their learnings, dwell apart from their excrement, and civilize. In return, as generations came and passed, their people began to revere my kind as their gods. Humanity never knew that I and my companions were merely tools wielded by the truly powerful.

Sumer rose and fell. Earth's cradle of civilization became the dusty parchments in Babylon's libraries, and the basis for Egyptian, Greek, and Aztec cultures. New gods replaced those whose dominion began humanity's culture.

Our new assignment waited on the world of our origin. On the world where our creators developed their society. The success of my kind allowed for the creators to disperse throughout the galaxy, the hidden power behind god puppets.

None wished to remain in the place of their species' ascension. That role had been assigned to the gods of Sumer. The loyal conquistadors of primitive Earth would stand an eternal vigil over a sacred home world.

I am among the nameless. In our order only few achieve the prominence of a name and station. Our creators had neither whim nor necessity to name the countless remainder. The Tablet of Destiny compelled us to the temple. It had been home to one of their middle class. A lonely place, yet with its beauty.

My station overlooked a river, which carved a deep canyon on its relentless path. I began to watch the water when it flowed level with the entry, I watched until it plunged underfoot. I imagined the conquest of countless people and places while the water slowly carved away.

One of the zagmuku returned. Hundreds of thousands could live within its massive hull during the voyage. Weeks passed as I awaited the Tablet of Destiny's new instruction. Those among my kind who served a transient purpose, bore no news.

The journey in my humanoid form took nearly a month. Had I been assigned wings or an insubstantial existence it should only have been a day's pursuit. I regarded the abandonment of post as a part of my. I undertook a surveillance mission.

It shocked me to find an entire society of my one time thralls within the zagmuku. It was eerily reminiscent of Atlantis, the vessel that arrived on Earth to relieve me of duty in Sumer. Not a single creator stood among them.

I returned to my station. Had these beings overcome their superiors? Had conquest drawn my predecessors and the creators away from Earth? I pondered the arrival and its implications in the months that followed.

They approached from the river one day as I stood at cliff side in thought. Their vessel paused to examine the steps I had etched out in the cliff face to reach the water. They wandered close enough to pose a threat, my long awaited duty arrived.

Before either man departed the boat, I dove toward them from my perch. Both humans gaped and pointed, neither with the slightest awareness of their doom. My arms stretched wide and a bone shattering crunch to either side signified that pulling them under the water's rushing surface gave quick mercy rather than their final struggle.