Atomic horror / Part One · The Night Watch
We Are the Many!
The Hyperion has turned for home. Then a silent contact begins matching its course.
Scroll to readThe contact
Dialogue & description
The riveted nuclear cruiser Hyperion coasts above a clouded world. Its five engine bells are dark.
CaptionTHE ATOMIC CRUISER HYPERION HAD CROSSED THE BELT AND TURNED HOMEWARD.
CaptionTWO HUNDRED THOUSAND MILES OUT, SOMETHING CAME TO MEET HER.
Dialogue & description
On the analogue bridge, young Brehm studies a green circular scope. Captain Stride watches beside him.
BrehmSquare contact ahead. No exhaust. No radio.
StrideMoving?
BrehmMoving with us.
Dialogue & description
A closed dull-iron cube dwarfs the tiny cruiser against black space. A clouded world hangs far beyond.
CaptionIT HAD NO WINDOWS. NOTHING WAS LOOKING OUT.
Dialogue & description
Brehm calls into a handset while Stride and Dr. Koval watch the silent cube through a round port.
BrehmUnidentified vessel—U.N.S. Hyperion calling. Stand off ten miles. State your course and power.
SoundKSSSHHH
Dialogue & description
Koval studies the cube through the thick bridge window. It holds its position beside the ship.
KovalIt is not drifting. It is keeping station.
Dialogue & description
The immense cube draws closer. The whole cruiser remains only a speck beside its blank face.
CaptionA SHIP APPROACHES WITH ITS BOW. THE CUBE SIMPLY BECAME NEARER.
Brehm (Radio)Unidentified vessel—alter course. Final warning.
StrideStand by missiles.
One answer
Dialogue & description
Under a red warning lamp, Brehm grips the missile controls. Stride points toward the cube.
BrehmRange ten miles and closing.
StrideFire the atomic missiles. Full spread.
BrehmRockets away.
Dialogue & description
Three fine missile tracks run from the tiny cruiser toward the immense cube.
SoundFWOOM—FWOOM—FWOOM
Dialogue & description
Three white atomic detonations overlap against one face of the cube. The cube remains still.
CaptionTHREE ATOMIC WARHEADS—POINT-BLANK.
Dialogue & description
The blasts have vanished. The face of the cube is completely unmarked.
Brehm (Radio)No mark. Not one.
Dialogue & description
One cold straight line reaches from the closed cube to the cruiser.
CaptionTHEN THE CUBE ANSWERED—ONCE.
Dialogue & description
The bridge is dark apart from its red emergency lamp. Brehm wrestles the wheel while Stride braces beside him.
BrehmMain power and nuclear drive are dead. Attitude jets and the independent crash rockets answer.
StrideSwing her tail-first. Save the crash rockets for touchdown.
Dead ship
Dialogue & description
The powerless cruiser drops tail-first through the atmosphere. The cube follows high above it.
CaptionTHE LAST ATTITUDE JETS HELD TWO HUNDRED AND TEN FEET OF DEAD SHIP TAIL-FIRST.
Dialogue & description
Crash-strapped on the dark bridge, Brehm and Stride work the auxiliary controls.
BrehmEmergency burst away. No answer. Crash rockets armed.
StrideHold her tail-first. Fire at the treetops.
Dialogue & description
The cruiser touches the jungle tail-first. Its emergency rockets burn beside the dark main engines as one fin sinks into mud.
SoundWHOOOM—THUDD!
Dialogue & description
The hull has settled onto its side among crushed trees. Living crew members climb out of the torn hatch.
CaptionTHE ROCKETS KILLED THE DROP. CRASH STRAPS HELD. BRANCH BY BRANCH, THE JUNGLE BORE HER DOWN.
KovalSound off! All hands—out of the hull!
Dialogue & description
Stride and Koval look up from the wreck. Far above them the cube hangs partly hidden in storm cloud.
KovalIt followed the descent without firing.
Dialogue & description
Koval and Stride watch the cube. Miles of open rain-grey air separate it from the jungle.
KovalIt had the power to kill us. It chose not to.
StrideThen assume it wants us alive. Get the emergency set working.
The night watch
Dialogue & description
All eleven crew members gather alive beside the grounded cruiser.
CaptionALL ELEVEN OF HER CREW CAME OUT ALIVE.
Dialogue & description
Koval treats a sailor’s arm while others suppress a small fire near the engine cluster. Loose metal lies where the crash left it.
KovalNo grave injuries.
StrideKill that fire. Then keep the emergency set alive.
Dialogue & description
Brehm transmits from an emergency radio. Stride waits beside him; behind them, the crew puts up a rain tarp.
BrehmNothing back. Our four sister ships were six hours astern.
StrideThey know our course. Keep sending blind.
Dialogue & description
At dusk, Stride assigns Mendez and Kerr their watch. Both men carry lanterns with their carbines slung.
StrideMendez, Kerr—first watch at the stern. Stay together.
Dialogue & description
Mendez and Kerr walk together behind the grounded stern, leaving the other survivors by the wreck.
MendezTwo hours, then Brehm relieves us.
KerrRoutine watch.
Under the leaves
Dialogue & description
The two sailors stand beyond the stern with hooded lanterns. Kerr looks up toward the distant cube.
KerrStill there.
MendezHasn't moved.
Dialogue & description
Between the sailors’ boots, a hooded lantern lights wet leaves and mud. A narrow disturbance reaches its edge.
KerrHear that?
Dialogue & description
The watch position is empty. Two lanterns and two carbines lie in the mud beneath bent leaves.
Mendez (Off-Panel)Kerr—!
Dialogue & description
Stride and Koval turn toward a cry from the darkness. Brehm remains at the emergency radio.
StrideMendez! Kerr!
Dialogue & description
Stride, Koval and one sailor find the dropped lanterns and carbines. There is no sign of the missing men.
KovalThey were here seconds ago.
StrideNobody follows. We stay where we can see one another.
Dialogue & description
Beneath wet leaves, Mendez lies unconscious and unwounded. One small brown insect crawls into his ear.
Part One · The Night Watch
End of Part One
To be continued in The Returned Men.
The Tame Man!
They set out to build a better mind. They succeeded. That was the disaster.