The Expanding Universe Read online

  The Globs tried to attack the two new enemies, but they’d already been blasted severely. Goldy leaned out from behind an ice boulder and fired on full auto. The Globs were packed tightly into the tunnel and the last of them quickly fell. As they tried to reform, Pinks and Jonesy walked, side by side, flaming the remains until they cleared the ice. Goldy took the tail-end Charlie position and once passed the Glob patrol, he sent a round from his 53 into the ceiling, bringing it down. Tons of ice shards shredded the already dead Glob flesh. Pinks looked back, wondering why. Goldy shrugged. He had thought this was a one-way trip. They didn’t need to go back that way. Forward was the only direction, always forward until they reached the end.

  Goldy took point, knowing that speed was their best tactical option. The firefight would have alerted any Glob within vibration distance. Reinforcements would be coming soon and the humans were exposed, trapped in the same constraining tunnel that they’d used for maximum effect in their ambush. They didn’t want the same treatment.

  Goldy turned his fast walk into a run before sliding to a stop, holding one fist in the air. He pointed to his face then straight ahead, flashing five fingers one after another. Unknown number of Globs ahead. There had been no side tunnels, and they’d come too far to go back.

  Chapter 6 – No Fear

  Goldy laid forward, assuming a prone firing position. He pulled a second mag from an equipment pouch on his suit and put it within easy reach. Pinks kneeled on the right side of the tunnel, putting a second magazine in his off hand. Jonesy stood against the rough ice on the left side of the tunnel. He’d be firing over both of their heads. He folded back the flap of the pouch so his weapon would be easier to reload.

  There were only three of them and if Goldy’s intuition was right, they’d have to concentrate their firepower down the tunnel in front of them, burning through their ammunition quickly. This is as good a place as any to die, Goldy thought, but we will take a shit-pot of those fuckers with us.

  Each of the men looked at their selector levers before switching them to full auto. Jonesy patted his pouches. Three mags and two more in his pack. On full auto, even with the time it took to change magazines, he could be tapped out in thirty seconds.

  No retreat. No resupply. No need for any of it.

  Adrenaline surged. The men became hyperaware. The fight was coming. They could sense the Globs approaching, feel their movement in the ice. And the men gained a sense of calm. Their bodies were prepared for this, the fury of the attack, from both sides. They would feel no pain, see nothing but targets.

  They were home.

  Goldy activated his external speakers and started screaming his war cry. Jonesy joined him. “Come on, you slimy pieces of shit!” Pinks remained quiet. He wasn’t one for screaming. He’d survived because he’d made himself a hole in the universe. Yelling damaged that calm.

  The Globs were unimpressed. The first wave came as fast as the creatures could move. They appeared at the far range shown on the low-light HUD of the helmet. On order from Jonesy, the three men activated their suit lights. This gave the Globs a better target, but only if they weren’t blasted first.

  Pinks fired low, Jonesy middle, and Goldy high. The first wave disappeared in a spray that splattered the second wave. Once again, the Globs didn’t care as the next wave came with equal vigor. Side by side, floor to ceiling, they filled the tunnel ahead.

  Pinks was first to drop an empty mag. The others hesitated, then sent short bursts down the tunnel. Jonesy next and Goldy milked his so that only one of the men was reloading at a time. Two seconds later, Jonesy resumed firing as Goldy’s bolt locked and the mag dropped. He slapped the next one in and the 53 cycled, hungry to get back into the fight.

  The second wave lasted longer than the first, but not by much. The third wave came in the same way, supplemented by the partially reformed Globs from the first wave. With each new attack, the Globs inched closer to the three soldiers.

  With the fourth wave, the thrown pieces of Glob reached them. One landed on Pinks’ back. He kept firing as Goldy used his rifle to scrape it off before it could burn its way through the prone soldier’s suit. Jonesy didn’t see the piece that hit his leg, but when his suit started to lose atmosphere, he knew he was in trouble. A second later, the Glob flesh started burning into his leg. Jonesy kneeled forward and shook himself, hoping gravity would help the mass to fall out. He screamed in pain, then gave up, after switching legs, to keep the hole pressed against the ground. His own blood, mixed with the Glob worked to partially close the hole and his atmo readings stopped flashing red.

  Jonesy screamed anew, firing with reckless abandon. He burned through a second mag, then a third.

  “Slow down, Jonesy!” Goldy yelled as he changed out to his third magazine, while the other soldier was fumbling with his fourth. Pinks slowed his fire, but it was too late. He ran out, the magazine fell, and his bolt locked. The Globs surged forward.

  Goldy hosed the tunnel on full auto, sending the last few rounds into the ceiling above the Globs. The ice collapsed, cascading onto the approaching soldiers from Globulus Major. The last two Globs were blasted to pieces right in front of the humans’ position, spraying the toxic filth of their bodies over Pinks who scrambled trying to get away.

  The respite in battle came instantly. No more Globs could get to them.

  The smaller man rolled over on his back and slid on the ice as he tried to scrape the slime from his suit. It mostly worked. Pinks pointed toward Jonesy who’d fallen over and grasped helplessly at his leg.

  Goldy dropped his pack on the ground and brought out his med kit. Inside was a bag of baking soda. He put a strap around Jonesy’s knee to hold the suit tightly closed as he cut the lower leg open and dumped in the white powder. He gave it a minute, then wiped up the remainder with an alcohol scrub. He sprayed new-skin on the wound, then duct-taped the suit closed. He slapped a ready-made suit patch over that and removed the strap.

  They’d discovered the hard way that the suit patches didn’t hold well during any follow-on combat operations. The duct tape took the pressure away from the patch and meant the difference between life and death.

  Death. Why had Goldy just done what he did?

  Because if you weren’t dead, you fought on. And they weren’t dead. Not yet. Goldy used the last of his baking powder to clean off Pinks’ suit. His pack was trash, but his suit hadn’t been penetrated. Pinks shrugged and pointed forward.

  Jonesy was back on his feet, grimacing as he tried to put weight on his leg. He gave the others a thumbs up, but he knew that he would limp and badly.

  “Not much further, buddy. What do you say we take the fight to ‘em?” Pinks pointed at the caved-in ice. He pulled his flamer from his hip. The others joined him and three abreast, they tackled the gap in the ice flow, melting their way through.

  When they got to the other side, the Globs were waiting.

  Chapter 7 – Breaking Through

  Pinks was nearest the first Glob that appeared in the opening. He flamed it and pushed through, burning his way forward. Goldy leaned into him from behind, to get through and add his flames . To the mini conflagration. Side by side they stood in the opening, burning the Globs as they slimed toward them.

  A Mod-53 barrel appeared between their heads, and the two soldiers in the lead dove away as Jonesy unleashed a full magazine of explosive rounds into the space before them. Pinks and Goldy switched over and once the mag dropped from Jonesy’s weapon, the other two unleashed more firepower. They raced forward into the gap they created, blasting on single shot as they passed. Jonesy threw his 53 to the side and with his flamer, he cleaned up the pieces the other two had left behind.

  Goldy raged. He activated his external speakers and screamed his fury at the invaders. He unleashed a verbal tirade as caustic as any soldier in history. Pinks would have been impressed if he hadn’t been systematically engaging enemy targets. He calmly picked and fired, reblasting the fallen between the appearance of new target
s. One shot at a time now that they had space to work.

  Goldy punctuated his invectives with blasts from his 53. Staying at Pinks’ shoulder, he covered his sector of fire, ahead and to the left, screaming as he pulled the trigger repeatedly. They cleared the way ahead as the tunnel widened into a huge chamber. Goldy and Pinks jumped through and crouched, assessing the enemy.

  Jonesy had fallen behind. Globs started to reform. His flamer ran out of juice. He hobbled back from the way they’d come, trying to get a grip on his Mod-53. The Globs welled up between him and his fellow soldiers, forcing him away from the chamber back in the direction they’d come from. The Globs moved away from the other two soldiers, away from the chamber.

  Pinks had seen how the Globs organized and operated in their rear areas, but he’d never seen anything like this. He was stunned. Actual equipment beyond the odd-looking spaceships that they used. There was power generation, cables that led to banks of equipment, and more cables that were connected to globes and dishes.

  “Comm gear?” Pinks asked. Goldy covered a number of Globs in his sector, but they weren’t aggressive, something he’d never seen before either. “Are we in a Glob command center, Goldy?”

  “I’m not sure it could be anything else. What do we do? Jonesy, any ideas?”

  Jonesy wasn’t there and he wasn’t coming. Goldy and Pinks instantly felt horrible for losing track of their friend. The sound of a Mod-53’s exploding rounds filled the tunnel behind them, followed closely by the crash as yet another ceiling tunnel caved in. Pinks rushed back into the tunnel leaving Goldy to watch over their newly found prize. He returned after just a few seconds, shaking his head.

  “That’s all she wrote, man. It’s completely blocked. I can’t raise him on the short range comm, either,” Pinks spoke softly and slowly.

  Chapter 8 – The Prize

  “How long are we going to stand here, Pinks?” Goldy asked.

  “Hey!” Pinks yelled using his boosted external speakers. “Any of you asswipes speak English?” The Globs remained motionless.

  “Cover me,” Goldy asked as he stepped into the room and looked over the equipment. Keyboards. Mice. Touchscreens.

  “This is human stuff, Pinks. Did we have a CP up here and the slimes took it?” Goldy continued without getting an answer from his fellow soldier, who was just as confused. “We gotta tell somebody,” Goldy stated matter-of-factly.

  “Yup,” Pinks agreed. “Kill ‘em first?”

  “Goes without saying,” Goldy replied as he slowly pulled his flamer. “Cover me.” The soldier moved closer to the Globs. He flamed the first one and it didn’t react. It simply melted. Goldy studied it. Then he approached within arm’s length of the other two.

  “Don’t get too close, bitch!” Pinks cautioned, while pulling his flamer and rushing to get into a better position to support his friend.

  “These are fake!” Goldy said in surprise, poking the rubber material. “Trap!” he yelled as he looked around frantically.

  Pinks threw his flamer to the floor as he reacted instantly, diving behind a bank of servers and switches, rolling and coming back onto his feet with the Mod-53 in his hands.

  There were two other exits to the room and nothing approached. “Dammit, Goldy! What the fuck was that?”

  “What the hell else could this be? You ever hear of fake Globs before?”

  “Never.” Pinks aimed down the barrel of his weapon as he approached a door that looked like an exit. He pulled the door open with one hand, while keeping his rifle ready to fire. “Man down!” he yelled and rushed through the door.

  Goldy followed, but only as far as the door. In both their minds, the area was not yet secure, and they were concerned. They’d changed their mission only seconds before, but they effortlessly adopted their new roles. it changed how they approached the business of making war. They could no longer be reckless, charging through a mass of Globs, just because.

  Pinks approached the man. His spacesuit was trim, less bulky than the suits worn by the soldiers. It was a light gray compared to their mottled black and gray. Pinks examined what he could see before turning the body over. He kneeled and with a gloved hand, gently rolled the man onto his back.

  The knife came out of nowhere as the man slashed at Pinks. The soldier flinched, but blocked the attack with the barrel of his 53. “Stop! I’m here to help!” Pinks jumped to his feet and stepped back seeing the wild look in the man’s eye.

  He calmed after only a few seconds and sighed. “Thank God you’ve come,” he projected over his suits external speakers. Pinks lowered his weapon and approached the man. Goldy looked on in surprise.

  As soon as Pinks was within arm’s reach, the man attacked again. Pinks blocked it, partially. The warning alarms sounded within his suit as he powered forward, picking the man up in his bull rush and slamming him against the wall. Pinks grabbed the man’s arm and twisted it viciously until the knife fell. He kept twisting until the arm snapped, and the man howled in agony.

  Goldy rushed to his friend’s side as Pinks threw the unknown man to the floor and planted a foot in the middle of his chest, using his hand to pinch the material together over the cut on the arm of his suit. Goldy pulled his repair kit and went to work.

  The man changed from howling to expletive laden denigration of the two soldiers. The man returned to howling when Goldy kicked his broken arm, encouraging him to shut his pie hole. Pinks took to stomping on the man’s chest until he quieted. His face contorted in pain and rage.

  Once the repairs were made, the two soldiers hauled the man to his feet. “Who are you and what the fuck are you doing here?” Pinks growled banging his face plate off the unknown man’s.

  “Fuck you, scum!” the man spit, which only served to mess up the inside of his helmet. Goldy gripped the man’s arm, around the break.

  “I think the nice man asked you a question, and we don’t appreciate such foul language. Answer the question without getting your panties in a bunch. Don’t be a sandy little butthole, now, answer the question,” Goldy encouraged, emphasizing his point with a small twist of the man’s injury.

  After a new round of screaming subsided and Goldy put pressure on the arm, promising a return to physical pain, the man caved.

  “Enough, you fucking barbarians! We were right to bring the Globs to life…”

  Chapter 9 – A New Reality

  “You brought the Globs here? You’re on their side?” Pinks shouted, tensing, wanting to tear the man apart with his bare hands, but he had to know – how could such a thing be?

  “See? That’s how simple minded humans are. The “Globs” as you call them are artificial constructs. We made them. We unleashed them on the unwashed masses. You don’t realize that you’ve already lost. We have an army massing for a new assault. Earth will soon be ours!” the man claimed triumphantly. The wild look had returned to his eyes.

  Pinks slammed the man against the wall. “I expect you do all that from right here?” Pinks asked sarcastically.

  “Everything we need…” the man started to say and then looked on in shock as both Pinks and Goldy smiled and nodded to each other. They grabbed the man’s arms and dragged him back to the command center. Pinks held him against the wall as Goldy fired one explosive round after another into the equipment, destroying it all. The man started to fight throwing himself against Pinks in an effort to get free.

  Pinks shoved the man against the wall and held him there with the barrel of his Mod-53 pressed into his chest. Pinks pulled the trigger and let the dead body fall.

  “Shame. I would have liked to try on that suit,” Goldy told him. The other soldier shrugged.

  “He probably fouled himself. Wouldn’t have been worth trying to clean up. What do you say we find the others he talked about and kill them. They made the fucking Globs, Goldy! Humans made them! How many did we watch die? And with a flick of a switch, the war could have been over. Fucking people!” Pinks was angry, but he was starting to retreat into the horror
s of war, made worse by the revelation that none of it needed to happen.

  Goldy was starting to feel different, too. He knew they needed to continue, explore the complex and destroy everything. Suddenly, he couldn’t find the energy to do it. He sat down amidst the ruin and hugged his knees to his chest, rocking himself. All of it, the whole war was for nothing. There weren’t any aliens. Humans had done it to themselves.

  Again.

  Even the blasts and crashing ice wasn’t enough to make either of the soldiers want to move. They sat and waited for the end.

  Chapter 10 – The Strength to Move

  Jonesy limped into the shattered remains of the command center, walking carefully around before finding his two friends. He saw the dead man, too.

  “What happened? Talk to me, guys, please,” he begged, holding Goldy’s helmeted head between two gentle hands. “Look at me, Goldy. What happened?”

  “Humans, Jonesy. It was fucking humans,” he lamented, showing no surprise at seeing their friend who they’d given up for dead. Jonesy tried to hold eye contact with Goldy, but his head was rolling around inside his helmet, and he had his eyes pinched shut. Pinks was a little better. At least he showed some recognition.

  “Humans created the Globs and controlled them from here as they fought their war against humanity,” he said in a tone devoid of emotion.

  “How could they do that? How did they?” Jonesy asked, confused. “I guess the guy who could answer that question didn’t cooperate?”

  Although Jonesy’s question was serious, it broke through Pinks’ reverie and he started to laugh. Goldy chuckled from where he was and stopped rocking, although he still held his knees to his chest.