Venus Rising

Chapter 5: Fallen Star

Captain Meyers groans as I finish patching her up, but even through the pain she keeps her hands steady on the ARC's controls. I was able to stop the bleeding and seal her suit so she wouldn't lose air when we open the hatch. VR1-ICA has already sealed the launch base, so we're going to have to land the ARC down on the colony's exterior landing pads...

The same ones we crashed on. The same ones I ran across to save Peter.

How was that not even an entire day ago?

I blink back the tears that threaten to spill past my puffy, red eyes. I can cry later. I can mourn later. Peter is gone, and he isn't coming back. Katelyn, Sam, Tom, Archie-all my friends back at home-they are still alive, and they are counting on me to stop VR1-ICA, even if they don't know it.

"Look out of the window, Five," Captain Meyers says, just barely managing to mask the pain in her voice. "There's the Venus Colony, floating in the yellow clouds."

"Captain Meyers, please," VR1-ICA comes in. She speaks so calmly. "You must listen to my reason-"

She's cut off when Meyers disconnects the coms.

"Sorry about that, Five. Veronica can't access the ARC's manual controls, but she keeps trying to hack our coms systems." She lands the ARC with a jerk. "We're down. You know the situation, Five. Veronica is going to transmit an alien signal to earth. It'll spread madness and death wherever it is heard. We have minutes until her relay satellite is online. We need to disable her transmitter tower so she can't broadcast it."

She tries to stand, but hisses through her clenched teeth and grabs her side. She flops back down into her chair.

"Ah... I'm injured," She states stupidly. "I think Spens fractured a rib. You were able to stop the bleeding, but I'll be a liability. I'm sorry, soldier. I know you're ill, but I am relying on you to pull this one off."

I don't particularly like her calling me 'soldier', but I still nod. I have to stop VR1-ICA, whatever the cost.

"I couldn't save the others," She continues. "There's nothing I can do to make up for that, but we are not losing one more life to this God forsaken planet!" She opens the hatch. "You can see the colony dome across the launch pads. Get there as fast as you can, find an airlock, and use your cutting torch to burn your way inside." She extends the ramp for me. "I'll be monitoring you, Five, every step of the way. This is our world at stake. Now get out there and end this. Run!"

I sprint off the ramp and start booking it across the landing pads. As my eyes scan across them, I try not to remember when I was sprinting across these pads to get to Peter. I fail, painfully remembering my relief when we were able to pull him to safety.

I should have held him then. I should have kissed him when we were alone, and he was cleaning me up. I should have kept hold of his hand at the mountain, even when Amelia came out of the ARC. If I had, maybe he wouldn't have been the closest one to Sissay.

There are a lot of regrets I'm going to have with me until I die, but it's already a given that my death will be soon, either by my sickness or by this horrible place. I haven't felt any different, no infection. I can't exactly see my hands since my suit covers every inch of my body, but I don't feel like any coral is growing under my fingernails, nor do I feel like anything foreign is suddenly in my mouth.

I think I'd rather throw myself off those launch pads than become those creatures. They looked so horrid. Maxted said they were old, but how old? Does this mountain keep you alive as parts of the rock and stone, fused but living unless killed some other way?

A shudder runs up my spine, and disgust immediately follows when I remember VR1-ICA infected all these people here with it. I suppose she was infected as well, and it altered her and her priorities. But I can't help but hate this AI even more, because in a way, she still kept her thinking capabilities. The people in that mountain, Commander Sissay-they lost that, becoming monsters who attacked and killed everything.