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From the Very Core 2000
short story by Louis Turfrey Ten years after Episode IV – A New Hope Critchek Skumul stepped away from the body that lay on
the floor in front of him and allowed the biomedical droid to clean up the
mess. He had all the information that he needed anyway. He called over one of
the men he’d posted to keep people away from the scene. "Constable,
I want this shipped to the Labs as soon as possible. No delays –
understand?" He handed over a small package containing the DNA data he
had collected from the scene. Hopefully the holo-net
would come up with an answer to his query for the victim’s identity.
Otherwise he'd be faced with yet another unsolved case. He looked back
towards the body. Poor guy, what a way to die. The biomedical droid
came over. "Sir, I
have a primary analysis of the cause of death." That was quick. He motioned for the droid to continue. "Asphyxia.
Caused by a sharp blow to the chest, collapsing the lungs. The damage to the
throat came later, caused by incisors sixty millimetres in length. The body
has been drained of eighty-five percent of its blood. DNA evidence points to
the same creature doing all of the damage." That was new. "You said creature?"
He paused momentarily. "Doesn't the DNA give a specific life form
type?" The droid re-examined its data. "No sir.
The DNA is unique to my database, though it shows several proteins that match
the humanoid strains. Without a more complete genome pattern, I'm afraid I
can't help you." Critchek nodded and the droid walked away. He reached
into another avenue of investigation, and removed his gloves. Touching the
area where the man had fallen, he immediately got an impression of the
creature that had attacked him. Tall, about three metres high, with a skeletal
structure and a double set of teeth, one slightly set back from the other. He
suddenly went cold, as if he had walked into a chiller
box. Then he felt a presence watching him. Not physically, but he knew
it was watching. Hells it was nasty. He broke the connection and stood up
slowly, recovering from the intensity of the contact. Whatever this thing was
it was new to the system. He replaced his gloves. Thinking for a moment he
brought his global contact pad out of his pocket. Flicking the channel open
he contacted the port authority. "Yes. Can I
help you?” The voice sounded bored, the image looked even worse. "This is
Special Investigator Skumul, New Republic Security. I need a direct link to
your database through my pad. Can you authorise it." The creature, whatever it was, sighed heavily. "Everybody
wants something for nothing since you New Republic types took over. Okay,
pass me your security encryption code and I'll link you up when I can."
Critchek passed over the code and watched the creatures face
widen as he saw the security clearance level. It always gave him a
kick to see his authority surprise people. "My pardon
Your Eminence, please feel free to connect when you need to." Critchek
thanked the creature and switched the pad over to data mode. He scanned the
database for anything unusual. Nothing. He switched to a wider search
pattern, including unauthorised landings, crashes and cross referencing with
out of system transports. The database gave a list of six possible ships,
four of which had crashed. He'd check them first. He called over to the local
deputy. "Noah, can
you spare me a couple of men to check out some leads?" The Chortese deputy walked over. "Sure
Critchek. Take Marlin and Neeves." The big deputy pointed towards two
burly looking constables who were loitering near the entranceway to the
service tunnel. "They're
not particularly bright but they are thorough. And good in a crisis."
Critchek smiled at the last comment. Why was it that
people on this planet thought that he needed watching? He was an SI, not an
Ambassador. He thanked the deputy and walked over to the men he had been
assigned. "Gentlemen,
you've been assigned to baby sit me. Let’s go shall we?" The two constables smiled at each other, appreciating the
humour and glad to get away from simple guard duty. Later, in the hover cruiser, the one called Marlin spoke. "So what do
you SI guys do anyway? Is it true y'all freaks?" Critchek smiled inwardly, always the same questions.
Always the same veiled insults. He gave them the stock answer. "We work as
investigators attached to the Diplomatic Corps. We each have very specific
abilities, some psychic, some psionic."
He looked towards the two men, pausing for effect. "Want me to tell you
guys when you're going to die?" That shut them up. There was an uncomfortable silence for
the rest of the journey. The driver took them out of Chancai, through one of the
special security exits, and let the car drop for a hundred levels before
correcting the repulsors. One day, Chancai would get so big that repulsors
wouldn't be enough. Critchek knew that it'd be a long while until it reached
the massive height of the old Jedi council chamber. A spark of memory flared,
not his own but one he'd inherited from his father. He let it play through,
seeing his fathers dismissal from the order, his consequent drop from grace.
All because he had pursued the notion that there might exist others who had
the same abilities as Jedi, but could not use the Force. He had spent years
trying to prove the theory, but dark times were ahead, and anybody who
revealed himself to have any Force ability was tracked down by the Emperors
minions or driven into hiding. When he did eventually find such a person, it
was his own son. He had spent many a long night telling Critchek that
story. The hover cruiser came to a halt and the driver started
to descend. The first crash site was below them, and it was obvious that
nothing could have survived. There was a large crater and a series of twisted
melted shapes. Critchek wasn't going to take the chance though. Five minutes later he was back onboard and heading for
the second crash site. Then he hit pay dirt. As soon as his fingers touched the blast marks he felt
the presence of something primal. This creature was ancient, possible
centuries old. It reeked of something dark and evil. He stood up and walked
towards the wreckage. The ship had landed mostly intact, but the windows had
been smashed and the hull buckled. It was a modified YT-1300. No distinguishing
markings, but plenty of hull plating. He stepped towards the cockpit area,
pulling himself up on the smashed window frame. His bodyguards seemed uneasy.
He looked over the edge and saw blood on the seats, but no glass. Strangely
the windows had been smashed out, but not in. He had a hunch and dropped
towards the ground. He called up the autopsy reports on his pad and read them
over. Two occupants, a Wookie and a Sullustian, had both been found with
their heads ripped off their shoulders. The report had been concluded as
Death by Misadventure, probably because of the crash. Ha. Bloody rednecks.
He closed the pad and called over his bodyguard. "Gentlemen,
get the infrared units and heavy ordnance out the trunk, we're going
inside." It was dark inside the YT-1300, and the stink of death
hung in the air. Critchek held back the fear he felt as he wandered forward
through the compartments, checking each locker, each corner. He'd felt what
this creature was capable of and it frightened him. If the sensations that he
was now feeling were accurate, then the creature had been back here recently.
He waved the two constables back as he came to the hatchway that led to the
main cargo area. He sniffed the air. There was a stink of decay. The hatchway was open ahead; there was some light
spilling out. Power must still be on. Critchek crawled forward,
switching on the thermal imaging system of the headset he was using. He set
the unit to combine the infrared with the thermal overlay. A quick poke round
the corner, then back again. Nothing there. He stood up and motioned
the two bodyguards to cover him as he quickly and lightly stepped throughout
the entranceway. What he saw made him gag. Parts of bodies everywhere. Different species, varying
sizes. All sorted into neat piles and webbed together with what looked like a
solidified blood / bile mix. The thermal imaging system showed centres of
intense heat under each pile. One of the piles started to move, as if
something was struggling to get out from underneath it. He felt the stirrings
of something primeval. His brain was screaming for him to get away. At the
same time, the thermal imaging system showed a rapid drop in the heat levels
being produced by whatever was inside that cocoon of body parts. He thought
quickly, jumping back towards the doorway. At the entranceway to the door he
placed two remote charges. The thermal imaging system was showing a complete
blank now, as whatever stirred matched its body heat with its environment. He
checked the door and was relieved to find it still had power. Stepping
through, he locked it behind him. He blasted the lock for good measure. "We haven't
got long. Whatever theses things are, there's more in there. Possibly
dormant. I need the transponder codes to this ship, or a record of the ships
log. You two go up to the cockpit and retrieve the log; I'll zip back to the
engine compartment. Don't take long, I'm not sure
when the other creature will be back." The bodyguards needed no further encouragement. Critchek
switched off the thermal imaging system. The engine compartment was cramped and badly damaged. It
looked as though something had tried to claw its way into it. He moved
quickly through the confined space and soon came upon the transponder unit,
but it was powerless. He tried re-routing power from a nearby conduit, but no
luck. This would get him nowhere. Critchek noticed that the unit had been
modified to be removable. A quick tug with a hydrospanner
and it was loose. He unhooked the unit and put it in his backpack. It was heavy,
but not restricting. Critchek was about to wind his way back up to the
cockpit when he heard a noise. He switched on the thermal imaging system
again. Somebody or something was jammed back there, among the pipes. He tried
to get a positive reading but couldn't see clearly. "Who's
there? Show yourself." He raised his heavy blaster in one hand and
stretched out with the other, trying to get a reading. All he felt was
intense fear. Something moved, slowly at first, then with more surety. As it
came forward, Critchek could see that it was a small furry creature, possibly
a hound of some sort. It had been
badly scratched, but still had a collar on. It whimpered and cowered. He
stretched out and patted it, checking the collar. No nametag. He stroked his hands
down its sides. No immediate damage that needed treating. Critchek ripped a
piece of thin cabling from a panel and used it as a lead. He heard a heavy
banging coming from the main cargo area. The hound snarled and whimpered at
the same time. "Come on boy, let’s get you out of here." The bodyguards were waiting outside by the hover cruiser.
Critchek called one of them over and handed out the dog. In the light of day
the creature looked half starved, and cringed away from the sunlight
overhead. It didn't try to escape though and seemed pleased by the company.
Critchek jumped down from the cockpit and unloaded more explosives from the
trunk of the cruiser as the bodyguards placed the dog on the back seat. He
called them over and they started to place explosives around the ship and
inside the cockpit. Critchek could feel the noise of the pounding reverberate
through the ship. He pulled away and motioned the others to do so. They all
climbed back on board the cruiser, Critchek pocketing one of the grenades he
had taken out of the trunk, and the pilot lifted the craft a safe distance
away. Critchek thumbed open the detonator and pressed the activator. Nothing seemed to happen at first, and then the whole
area was enveloped with the light of a thousand suns, followed by the loud
crack of imploding air. When the mini thermonuclear explosion had cleared,
all that was left was a large glassy crater. "Call
control and get four heavily armed cruisers out here. No one is to touch
down, understand?" The bodyguard called Neeves nodded. His companion spoke
up. "What do
you think those things were?" Critchek kept looking out the window, trying to focus on
what was still disturbing him. "Toddlers.
Mamma's going to be real mad when she finds out." The creature watched as the interlopers escaped towards
the city and mourned the loss of the nest. It would take many days and a good
deal more food before it was able to create more young.
The part of its brain that had once been human felt anger at the one that the
others had called Critchek, and vowed to itself that he would pay a
heavy price for the deaths of its children. For now though, it had to bide
its time. Soon would be nightfall, and it would be able to move around freely
again. Then it would wreck a terrible revenge… The nagging sensation stayed with Critchek as he wrote
his report. He'd missed something and he knew it. He felt a sensation of
pressure on his thigh and looked down to see the dog lying next to him. He'd
had it checked out by the medics, fed it and had attempted to leave it in a
shelter, but the creature had whined so much he had felt compelled to take it
with him. He stroked it and it relaxed into his grip. Whatever had happened,
the creature had now decided that he was its new owner and friend. Critchek
had taken DNA traces from the wound of the dog, and once the dogs’ own
molecular structure had been removed, he had been left with a match for the
creature that he was hunting. A quick call to the lab had resulted in a DNA
mock-up of the creature. The three dimensional image hovered over his desktop, and
was actively trying to scare the blood out of his veins. Best estimates put
it at three and a half metres high. Two powerful rear legs gave it the
appearance of a fast predator, whilst cruel claws attached to four medium
length arms, left no doubt as to how it fed. This was topped off by a domed
and flattened head, possible housing a large brainpan. Two slit eyes were
visible with nictating membranes and the jaw split
just beneath them revealing two rows of sharp pointed teeth and a hollow
barbed tongue. Massive canines and a pair of impossibly large leathery wings
served to complete the creature’s demonic appearance. The long barbed tail
extruded out of the back, counterbalancing the wings and forearms. How this
creature had ever moved around without being seen was a puzzle, but Critchek
suspected that the creature must have some sort of thermo-visual cloaking
device. The most frightening thing that they had discovered though had been
the protein match in the DNA. This creature, however deformed or mutated, had
been created with modified human, Ferrerean and Garmon Bat DNA. Critchek pulled up the flight log that they had retrieved
from the old freighter and checked back along its route. Sullust, Corellia,
Amagad, Wennicas and finally Zelon, specifically the trade city of Chancai.
He ran a check against all known gene labs along the route, but came up with
a complete blank. This would take some time. Critchek downloaded all the
available information on the planets and their histories into his pad. He
then moved over to his bunk and started to read. The creature moved through the night, gliding on the
thermal currents that rose along the massive walls of Chancai City. It saw
the security cruisers exit the building and beat its wings hard. Before the
electrostatic field was reasserted, it shot through the entrance to the chute
and touched down in the long narrow corridor beyond. It sniffed the air. Its
prey had taken this route back into the city. Good - vengeance would soon be exacted. Glann Cipple. That name had once stuck fear into the very heart of
anybody that had stood against him. Now he was gone, and his planet with him,
but Critchek suspected that his legacy lived on. Rumours abounded that he had
created several hellish mutations during his years within the Fortress of
Amagad City. No one person knew for certain what he had spawned, but
one thing was sure - more of his creations had been failures than successes. Critchek deactivated the pad and got himself dressed. He
moved over to the comm panel on the desk and called
up control. "Maska,
this is Skumul. I want you to set a series of environmental filters up, using
the current air conditioning systems. I'm looking for high pheromone levels,
possible containing Human / Ferrerean scent traces. I think this thing will
be coming for me." Maska sounded puzzled. "Why, what
makes you think that you’re a target?" Critchek answered gravely. "Because
bearing in mind its genetic heritage, it will feel the need for revenge, and
both of those races enjoy vengeance." Something had changed. The air smelt different. The
creature moved lithely through the throngs that filled the mall. Her massive
legs allowed her to overstep most of the milling races,
she only had to occasionally use her wings. She had no need to feed off them
at this point in time and would have had to drop her cloak to kill them
anyway, but her growing hunger caused her pain and she knew she must feed
soon or die. She came upon an area that smelt vile. Shiny objects
buzzed backwards and forwards between injured creatures. Applying a foul
smelling substance to wounds. She nearly lost the smell of her quarry,
beneath the masking smell of the location, but then she found it again and
lumbered onwards. Her wings brushed one of the shiny objects, accidentally
pushing it into a container housing the foul smelling substance. She paid no
heed to the device. She knew she couldn't be seen. "Sir, the
air conditioning systems have been set up to do as you requested. Preliminary
data will be available within a short time." Critchek moved to the desk he had been allocated within
the control centre and was pleased. He knew what a massive undertaking it was
to reconfigure the system and was extremely glad that previous governors of
Chancai had installed similar systems to alert for poisons and gases. His
newly adopted dog, now called Spacer, sat its self down beneath the desk. He
opened up a three-dimensional map of the city on the holoviewer
in front of him and waited for the information to feed to his terminal. The
information fed in slowly, and most of the areas of the city showed a light
red haze of human pheromones. Ferrerean pheromones were nearly non-existent,
but there was one area where both types intersected strongly. Critchek
followed the trace as more information sped in. He watched the data build up
and suddenly his blood ran cold. "Oh sweet
Kessel. It’s here." Critchek span around, knocking into several other
members of the security staff, and sprinted for the main entrance to the
control centre. He leapt for the emergency door release and smashed his fist
into it. Within a blink of an eye the door had slammed shut. Everyone was
looking at him as if he had gone mad. Flicking on his comm
unit he ordered all entrances to the control centre closed. He composed
himself and examined the room closely. The control centre was over twenty
metres high by one hundred metres across. Designed to look after the security
needs of Chancai, it had recently been modified and enlarged. Six entrances
led into the room. Three on the ground level and three on the mezzanine floor
set ten metres above the surface. There was giant window at one end of the
room giving an excellent view of the area surrounding the city of Chancai.
Somewhere between him and that window was the creature that had eluded him
that morning. The room had gone quiet. He flicked open his comm on general broadcast. "Everybody,
to the edge of the room, slowly. Exit via the entrances to the left and right
of me." People started to approach him and ask questions but one
look from his terrified face silenced them. He reached into his jacket pocket
slowly and brought out the headset he had worn that morning. Activating the
scanner he placed it over his head and flipped down the monocular eyepiece.
The sonar ping sounded in his ears, reducing as people left the room. It was
a tribute to their training that they did not panic, but Critchek could feel
the tension. Eventually, there was only him and his two bodyguards from that
morning. They were either too loyal or too scared to move. Critchek sealed
the doors from the command console on one of the desks. "Neeves, take up a position on the right and cover
me." Neeves did as he was told, withdrawing his blaster from
its holster. There was a slight change in the note from the scanner. "It’s
watching us. Set the blasters to stun. Stand stock still." Neeves choked back
a reply. There was a shimmer in the air towards the middle of the room
and the sonar ping increased in intensity. The creature became visible and as
it did so, the full nature of its horror took hold. All three men gasped
simultaneously. Every bit as horrific as its DNA profile, the creature stood
before them. It stretched its wings outward, the red / black skin between the
veins becoming visible. Its head twisted about, examining the three men
individually as it did so. Its eyes rested on Critchek. Somewhere in the back
of his mind he registered that his colleagues has released the contents of
their bladders. For a second he forgot the danger and smiled. The creature
roared, the volume nearly bursting his eardrums and he fought to regain his
self-control. Neeves dropped his blaster in shock and ran to the exit on the
right hand side of the room. He never got there. With the speed of a serpent,
the creature leapt in the bodyguards direction, skewering the
mans body to the wall with its claws. Amazingly he was still alive and
fought the vice like grip that threatened to engulf his torso. Four powerful
arms tore him apart limb by limb. The large jaw opened and lapped up the
spilling blood like a vacuum hose. Critchek made his decision and picked up
the blaster that Neeves had dropped. Ignoring the danger, he started to walk slowly
towards the creature. As Neeves died Critchek ploughed blaster bolt after
blaster bolt into the deformed giant, with no effect. The creature finished
its feeding, and ignoring Critchek moved towards Marlin who now cowered on
the other side of the room. It’s trying to
prolong the torture,
thought Critchek. He fought back his revulsion and attempted to intercept the
creature. The beast swatted him with its tail and he flew across the room,
hitting the wall just below the mezzanine. He slid to the ground injured and
concussed, watching in futility as the beast tore into to Marlin,
dismembering him bit by bit. No blood was lost. It stopped and sniffed the air, looking around itself.
Critchek got to his feet, slowly. The beast looked at him, snorting like a Cockri Boar. Its wings folded back behind it. Critchek
dropped the blaster, standing up straight as he did so. "Come on
you bitch. What are you waiting for? Scared of me are you?" He took off
his gloves, exposing his hands for the first time, and stretched them out in
front of him. "Want to
see your own death. Try me. Come on, surely your not scared of a little
humanoid like me?" He walked towards the beast, which looked at him in
confusion. He felt a resignation at the realisation that his own knowledge of
his death might indeed be wrong. It relaxed him. The beast waited no longer. Its jaws widened in a roar,
at the same time its tongue shot out and into Critcheks
shoulder. He screamed in agony as its barbs buried deep into his muscle, and
then he felt the horrible realisation that it was sucking the blood from him.
It drew him forward, and he felt a strange numbness overwhelm him. His knees
buckled and he dropped to the floor. He couldn't fight anymore. He tried to
move his hands, and realised that he no longer had the strength. It drew him
closer to its jaws, merely two metres away. His mind screamed at him and he
fought to stay conscious. His vision and hearing cleared momentarily and he
heard a vicious feral growl. A golden streak of light leapt up between him
and the beast, clamping sharp powerful jaws onto the barbed tongue that
joined the two of them. Spacer held on tight as the beast screamed in agony,
pulling back so fast that the barbed tongue was partially pulled from Critcheks body. Feeling flooded back into Critcheks arm as the tongue severed half way along its
length and Spacer landed on all fours, a howl of triumph coming from his now
open jaws. Critchek staggered forward, narrowly avoiding the flailing arms of
the beast, and planted both hands on one of its flanks. "Let me
show you your destiny." He whispered to himself, and pulled on every
ounce of strength that he could muster. Drawing upon the emotive power of
everything that had ever caused him pain, he plunged it into the mind of the
hapless creature like a poisoned dart. It reeled back scrabbling at its skull
like a demon gone insane. With the last of his strength, Critchek withdrew
the grenade he had stored in his pocket earlier and threw it at the window
behind the beast, grabbed Spacer, and dived for cover. His timing was
perfect. The explosion cracked the window, the beast
impacted it a second later. The toughened glass held momentarily, but the
mass of the creature was too great. There was a cracking sound, and the
creature shot through the glass, propelled out by the vacuum caused by the
drop in pressure. Its wings shredded as it was pulled past the remaining glass, and it plummeted outwards still clasping its skull.
Its screams were cut off by the emergency force field. Gasping for breath, trying to stay awake, Critchek
released the emergency shut down on the doors. He looked at Spacer as people
started piling back into the room and wondered just what it would be like to
have a dog.
From the Very Core 2000
short story by Louis Turfrey Ten years after Episode IV – A New Hope Histories – A new
departure for writer Louis Turfrey – a new original series of
stories set within the Setnin Sector but without any recognisable
characters. Using Critchek Skumul as
its major player, this is a totally new spin on Setnin and its darker side. Cast
of Characters Critchek
Skumul Noah Marlin Neeves Maska |