Alien Shadows Read online

  Riff grimaced. "No thanks, Giga. We can barely land this ship without crashing. I don't trust us flying along a black hole's rim."

  Clouds of luminous dust, several asteroids, and a rocky planet orbited the black hole. Steel pointed at the barren charcoal world.

  "Is that planet Kaperosa?" he asked.

  Giga nodded. "Yes, sir. A small planet, no larger than Earth's moon back home, and just as rocky and desolate. Current population: seventy-four, all scientists stationed in Kaperosa Observatory, studying Yurei. Well . . ." Giga tilted her head. "Following the news we received, seventy-three."

  They flew closer to the planet. Steel stared, an iciness growing inside him. Even from this distance, he could see the observatory—a dim light—upon the rocky surface of Kaperosa. A small scientific outpost. Seventy-three souls. The woman he loved. And a dark presence, an evil Lenora would not explain in her message.

  Steel tore his eyes away from the approaching planet, looked at his communicator, and read Lenora's words again.

  Dearest Steel,

  I wanted to open this letter with a conversational "Hello!" Or perhaps with an innocuous "How have you been? I've been well." I thought to ease into my words, to somehow break the ice with the small talk I know you've always thought useless. Truth is I don't know what to say, don't know how to make you believe that, for many years, I wanted to write to you but could not. That, for many years—for all these years—I've been thinking of you.

  It's funny, isn't it? They say time heals all hurts. What a contemptible lie! Time loses all meaning in the darkness of space and the hidden burrows of the heart.

  And now I've switched from small talk to bad poetry. I've always been better with numbers than with words, haven't I? I could speak to you for hours about the sky's equations, yet I could never properly tell you how much I loved you. How much it hurt when I left.

  Yet now I need you, Steel. I need you here with me, among the stars whose tales I would endlessly regale you with. Because I've found something in the darkness. Something darker than space, darker than the innards of the black hole I now orbit. Something that invaded my observatory, that stole the life of a young woman, that still haunts us, stalks us, waits for us in the shadows.

  My comrades call it a ghost. Yet what is a ghost if not a form of alien life? And so I'm writing to you, Steel Starfire, Alien Hunter. I need you. Now more than ever. Come back to me.

  Always yours,

  Lenora

  As he read the letter, Steel could still imagine her, every detail: her brown tresses, her sparkling hazel eyes, the woolen skirts and sweaters she wore. He returned his eyes to the planet ahead. Would Lenora look different now, sixteen years later? Would he even recognize her?

  I myself am almost unrecognizable, he thought. The tall, slender youth had become a haggard man. His brow was now lined, his temples graying, and a mustache drooped down to his chin. He was only thirty-four yet he looked a decade older. Lenora's father had taken him into the knighthood, the ancient order Steel had chosen over love, only to banish him, and those long years of exile had aged Steel. He had gone from carefree boy to somber knight to haunted outcast. Perhaps the question was: Would Lenora recognize him?

  "Steel, you all right, buddy?" Riff came to stand beside him.

  Steel stared ahead, jaw tight. "I am ready to do my duty, brother. Always. By my honor, we shall defeat whatever evil lurks on this observatory."

  "That's not what I meant." Riff came to stand between Steel and the view. "I know this must be hard. When I had to go to Nova for help last year, it seemed to break something inside me, and—"

  "A knight is always ready to defend the weak." Steel raised his chin. "Do not worry yourself, brother. My sword is ready. Always."

  More words, Steel thought. Old words of old traditions. Perhaps his own version of "small talk." Perhaps another form of armor he wore to protect his soul, as surely as his metal plates protected his body.

  Riff nodded. "If you want to talk about things, at any time, let me know." He slapped Steel's arm. "Until then, we go hunting."

  As Riff wandered off to argue with Nova about something, Steel returned his eyes to the planet. The Dragon Huntress was growing near now. The rocky world covered Steel's field of vision, blessedly hiding that black hole. He could see Kaperosa Observatory below: a network of domes and walkways that clung to the planet like barnacles.

  Lenora is in there. Lenora and whatever haunts her.

  "Engaging thruster engines," Giga said. "Preparing to land."

  With blasts of steam, the Dragon Huntress glided toward a small spaceport outside the observatory. A single ship was docked there—a large transport vessel, shaped like a dagger with wings as its crossguard. With screeches, clanks, and sputtering smoke, the mechanical dragon thumped down onto the surface.

  Steel took a deep breath.

  It's time.

  For years, living alone in his castle, he had fantasized about this moment: of flying out to the stars, finding Lenora, trying to rekindle what they had lost. Now the moment was here, and he feared it—more than any ghosts that haunted distant halls.

  Yet I'll do what I must. Your father might have stripped off my sigil, Lenora, but my heart is still the heart of a knight. I made a vow to protect those in need, and I will protect you too.

  He turned to leave the bridge, hand clutching Solflare's hilt.

  The others joined him: Nova with her whip, Giga with her katana, Twig with her wrench, Piston with his hammer, Riff with his gun, Romy with her pitchfork. They were his friends, his family, yet how could they understand the pain inside him?

  As Steel walked toward the airlock, the others followed him, letting him take the lead. He was not the captain of this ship. He was not even second-in-command, a title Nova claimed. But on this mission, they knew to let him walk first. Perhaps they understood more than Steel knew.

  Through the porthole, Steel saw a walkway stretch out from the observatory and attach to the Dragon Huntress's airlock. Steel took a deep breath, opened that airlock, and stepped off his ship.

  He entered the walkway and saw her there.

  Steel froze, unable to walk any farther, unable to breathe.

  "Lenora," he whispered.

  * * * * *

  "Steel." Tears flooded Lenora's eyes, and for a moment she stood still, hesitating. "I don't know what to say. Do I hug you?"

  Steel stood before her in the walkway, his fellow Alien Hunters behind him, feeling so afraid, so awkward, even his armor not shielding him.

  Lenora looked so much the same. Sixteen years had gone by, yet she looked like she had at eighteen—a beautiful woman of long brown hair and intelligent eyes. She still even wore her woolen vest and skirt. He had gone through hell and back, emerging a ruin of a man, yet she was still a flower of youth and innocence. And he still loved her. Steel realized that he'd never stopped loving her, and tears threatened to fill his eyes, and all his strength seemed to sap away.

  He raised his chin. He had to cling to his strength, to his honor, the only armor that might still protect him.

  "My lady, you've summoned me, and so I come. To serve. To protect. To defend the needy, to—"

  "Yes. A hug." Lenora nodded, sniffing tears, and pulled him into her embrace. "Oh, Steel. Thank you for coming." She touched his mustache, laughing and blinking away her tears. "Look at you."

  He smiled wryly, his arms awkwardly wrapped around her. "I aged for both of us. You look as beautiful as always."

  More tears fell down her cheeks. "I heard what my father did to you, what happened, what—" She wiped her eyes, then smiled shakily. She caressed his cheek. "You look wonderful. Handsome as always. A hero."

  He bowed his head. "Not a hero, Lenora. Only a man of honor."

  She smiled, tears spiking her lashes, and looked across his shoulder. Her smile widened.

  "Riff!" Lenora said. "Look at you. Same as always. Still wearing a Space Galaxy shirt."

  Riff's grinned, stepped f
orward, and embraced her. "I'm pretty sure it's the exact same Space Galaxy shirt." He kissed her cheek. "Good to see you, Lenora. How's your little brother?"

  Her face darkened. Her smile vanished. "Dee is . . . not well. He . . ." She wrung her hands. "A story for another time. Right now, we're in danger, and I'm being rude. Talking to you here in a walkway! Not even introducing myself to everyone." She waved to the other Alien Hunters. "My name is Lenora Rosetta, chief administrator of Kaperosa Observatory. Come with me, into the compound. Let me find you all something to drink and eat. You must be tired from the journey."

  "Do you have any poodles?" Romy asked.

  "No eating poodles!" Nova cracked her whip.

  Lenora blinked, then shook her head and began to walk. The Alien Hunters followed, leaving their ship behind and entering the narrow halls of a haunted observatory.

  CHAPTER FOUR:

  OBSERVING GHOSTS

  Romy was bored.

  Bored, bored, bored, bored.

  Finally—finally—Captain Riff had let Romy off the ship in public, and it wasn't on any exciting planet full of crazy animals to eat. It was in a science station. Science! The boringest invention humans had ever come up with.

  As the others sat in some boring lab, talking about boring numbers and calculations and other things that made Romy's brain hurt, she tiptoed away and sneaked into a corridor.

  The devil may have invented algebra, Romy thought, but that doesn't mean his demons have to understand it.

  She kept moving down the corridor, leaving the others behind. Dim lights shone overhead, and the walls were too close. Romy felt like she were walking back in Hell's tunnels.

  "Romy!" rose Riff's voice from somewhere behind. "Damn it, Romy, where are you?"

  "Let her wander off." It was Nova's voice speaking now. "Maybe she'll fly toward the black hole and fall in."

  Ooh, fall into a black hole! That sounded splendid. Romy's tail wagged as she walked. She wondered if she could find a way out of the observatory, fly into space, and try falling into that black hole. She'd need to find a space suit and a jetpack, and she wasn't sure how she'd fly back here, but it would be interesting, and—

  Two scientists came walking around a corner, saw Romy, and froze.

  "Hiya." Romy waved a clawed hand, and her flaming hair crackled.

  The pair screamed, spun around, and fled.

  "Wait up!" Romy said. "I'm a demon, not a ghost! Wait! Hey, do you have any poodles around here? I'm famished."

  She gave chase for a while, but the scientists vanished. Romy paused, panting, utterly lost. This whole observatory was more confusing than the network of heating vents back in the Dragon Huntress. Indeed, Romy felt as if she were exploring some coiling metal labyrinth. Corridors connected to cluttered labs full of dials, monitors, tubes, and telescopes. Ladders rose and fell. Lights flickered. Doorways whooshed open and thumped shut. The observatory hadn't looked too large from above, but now it seemed endless to Romy.

  She remembered herself many eras ago, a young demon wandering the tunnels of Hell. This place was a little like Hell—too dark, too stifling, too dangerous. There was evil here. Romy could smell it.

  Or maybe I'm just smelling myself, she thought. I'm evil. I'm a demon after all.

  A glint of starlight caught her eye. Romy walked down a hallway and found herself in a round glass chamber. There were no solid walls here, just a transparent dome, revealing a view of space beyond. Romy felt as if she had entered the helmet of a giant astronaut.

  A massive telescope stood here, larger than Romy, pointing toward space. Romy's tail wagged furiously, and she raced forward and hopped right onto the telescope.

  "Onward, noble steed!" She kneed the telescope. "I am Sir Steel Starfire, a stuffy knight with crumbs in my mustache. I command you—gallop! Show me the meaning of haste." The telescope bobbed, and Romy beat her wings, spinning it around in circles. "Faster, loyal stallion! To battle, to—"

  The telescope spun around to face the black hole outside, and Romy swallowed her words.

  Yurei, the great black eye, seemed to fill her vision. She stared into the abyss. And it stared back into her.

  It's alive, Romy thought. A shiver ran through her from her horns to her tail's tip. It's looking at me.

  Suddenly she wasn't so sure she wanted to fall into that black hole after all.

  She tried to look away but could not. Yurei seemed to be tugging her. Her hair crackled madly. She slid forward on the telescope—no, not slid but pulled, reeled in toward the blackness. She wrapped her thighs around the telescope, trying to hold on, to stay here, not to fall in, not to get sucked up, to vanish into that emptiness.

  Red one . . . The voice spoke in her head. Being of fire . . . come to me . . .

  "No," Romy whispered. "Please."

  The black hole seemed to expand, to mock her, to laugh.

  Come join the darkness.

  Romy couldn't tear her eyes away, no more than she could have torn off a part of her body. She sucked in air, struggling to breathe. Her legs were frozen, her head locked, but her tail still seemed to work. She gave a hard wag, and the telescope spun on its hinge.

  The telescope swiveled away, and the black hole vanished from her line of sight. She found herself facing the shadowy back of the chamber.

  There was no glass here—only a dark wall, a few instruments in the shadows, a bookshelf, a door. Romy exhaled shakily with relief.

  Suddenly she no longer felt like exploring. She slid off the telescope, careful to keep looking at the wall, away from that great black eye she could still feel staring at her.

  "I'm going to go back now," she said, speaking to the black hole behind her. "Back to my friends, to—"

  A shadow stirred ahead.

  Romy froze. Cold sweat washed her.

  Shelves clattered. The door creaked. Red eyes opened in the darkness.

  "Red one . . ." A presence spoke in the shadows, voice hoarse, deep, echoing—a voice from another world. "Come . . . to us . . ."

  The shadows coalesced into a tall form, only half there. A ghostly hand reached out, woven of smoke, ending with black claws.

  Romy screamed and thrust her pitchfork.

  "A ghost!" she cried. "A ghost in the observatory!"

  Swinging her pitchfork, she burst into a run.

  She whipped around the shadowy being and barged out the doorway. Those claws lashed, and she screamed. Her arm blazed with pain. Her blood spurted. She kept racing down a corridor, leaving the lab behind.

  "Ghost in the observatory! Ghost! Riff, where are you?"

  That hoarse, echoing voice laughed behind her, and the darkness covered Romy's vision, and tendrils like a thousand clawed arms reached around her. Romy ran through the hallways as fast as she could, lost and trapped in the darkness.

  * * * * *

  "Ghosts?" Riff shook his head. "Nonsense. There's no such thing as ghosts."

  "I'm pretty sure your underwear is haunted," Nova muttered, flicking her whip.

  He groaned. "Must you talk about my underwear every time we meet a client?"

  They all stood back in the domed chamber where Romy had claimed to see the ghost. Planet Kaperosa had since spun on its axis, and the observatory now faced away from the black hole; the dome gazed upon a comforting starry sky. Riff and Nova stood side by side, while Steel examined the shadows. Romy sat in the corner, wrapped in a blanket, drinking from a mug of hot cocoa.

  "I did see a ghost!" The demon shuddered. "A real ghost. A scary one."

  Nova rolled her eyes. "You're a demon, for pity's sake. How could you be scared of ghosts?"

  "Because they're scary!" Romy said. "Almost as scary as that time I opened the dryer and Riff's underwear flew onto me."

  "Will everyone please stop talking about my underwear!" Riff turned toward Lenora, and his voice softened. "Does the demon's description sound familiar, Lenora?"

  The young scientist stood by the glass wall, staring out into space. Her v
oice was low, so soft Riff barely heard. "Humans have always been frightened of the dark, yet drawn to it. Forever we've feared the unknown, yet sought to know it." She turned toward Riff, eyes damp. "Until now, our light could always banish the shadows. Here at last, in the endless darkness of space, we found a shadow that would not flee."

  Somehow those words chilled Riff more than a thousand of Romy's ghost stories.

  "What do you know about this ghost?" Riff said, hating that his voice sounded so thin.

  "Ghost?" Lenora turned toward him and blinked. "No, Riff. I don't believe in ghosts either. I cannot. I will not. What we found here is alien life—a life not solid, liquid, or gas. A life we don't understand, a life from somewhere beyond. But life nonetheless. Life hostile. Cruel. Life that kills. These creatures—and yes, we've spotted more than one here—have killed four of my scientists already. Their claws reach out, touch a living human . . . and that human vanishes."

  Riff paced the chamber. With the planet facing away from the black hole, and with everyone around him, it was hard to imagine evil lurking in this place. Yet the scratches on Romy's arm were real.

  "Play the footage, Lenora," Riff said, turning toward the monitor on the wall.

  The young scientist nodded and pressed a button. The security video played on a wall-mounted monitor, showing Romy entering the observatory and riding the telescope.

  "Are you pretending to be an amorous dinosaur?" Nova asked the demon.

  Romy groaned. "I'm pretending to be Steel on a noble steed."

  Nova tilted her head, staring at the footage. "It looks more like you're doing something unspeakable to it."

  The demon began to object, and Nova scoffed, and Steel began to lecture Nova on her tongue, and the other Alien Hunters in the back of the room were laughing, and Lenora stared around in shock, and—

  "Enough!" Riff roared. "Quiet, all of you. Just watch."

  They all turned back toward the monitor. The footage now showed a shadowy figure materialize in the back of the room. Riff squinted, trying to make sense of it. The apparition flickered, swelled, shrunk, always changing shape, never quite turning solid. Red eyes kindled in its blobby head.