[Hor] [Sf] The Only Logical Course of Action (M)

This past week I've had writers block, so I haven't been able to come up with any new chapters for my two current stories. I decided to write a short story for the heck of it. I hope you enjoy.
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The Only Logical Course of Action

“Captain? Hey, Captain, wake up.”

Captain Alan Reynolds woke to the voice of his first mate. He glanced at his watch. 4:56 PM, my shift doesn’t start for an hour he thought, annoyed. He sat up, stretched, and put his feet over the side of the bunk.

“Dave, if this doesn’t have to do with us finding a bunch of swords, I’m throwing you over the side.” he said groggily.

“Sorry, still no swordfish.” David Malkovich replied, chuckling. “We found something else though. We picked up an SOS over the radio from a Chinese container ship and followed it here.”

“Well, that is noteworthy; I guess you don’t have to take a drink. Have you signaled them?”

“Yes,” Dave responded, “Both through radio and the signal lamp. No response and no activity on the deck. We asked the Coast Guard about the ship; according to them the ship is out of Shanghai and they were supposed to be in Los Angeles over a week ago.”

“Alright, I guess we should head over there. Maybe they are having mechanical problems or something.” Alan said as he got up, adjusting instantly to the gentle rocking of the Sea Spirit’s deck.

He walked out of the dormitory and out onto the deck. He looked out to the horizon, regarding the rolling seas of the Northwestern Pacific. Dominating the view was a container ship with Chinese lettering on the side. The ship was over 800 feet long, dwarfing the 75 foot Sea Spirit, and was covered with hundreds of semi truck sized containers.

“Dave, when we finish this rescue operation up, we should head back to San Francisco. We’ve been out here a month and we haven’t caught a thing. I give up.”

“Well, that’s gonna be tricky.” Dave said “When I called the Coast Guard about this ship, they also warned us that Typhoon Irene is gonna be passing through this area sometime in the next few hours. They advised us to get to a port and hole up for a while. Nearest port is Vancouver and that’s still 2 days away.”

“Hmmm. Well, we’ll deal with that when the time comes.” Alan said. He approached Kylee Simms, who was standing near the wheelhouse working the signal lamp.

“Any luck?” he called.

“No,” she said, running a finger through her blond hair, “they either aren’t there, or they can’t answer.”

“I haven’t had any luck over the radio either.” Rick Alderton called from aft.

“We’ll have to go over there then. Dave, tell pull the Spirit alongside the freighter. And have the Doc get all the medical supplies together, we may need them.”

Dave ran off in the direction of the wheelhouse. A few moments later the boat began moving toward the container ship.

“If this ship was going to LA, what the hell is it doing 400 miles off the coast of British Columbia? And where is the crew? Even if their radio was out, they would still try to contact us with their signal lamp. Hell, they could stand on the deck and wave for that matter.” Kylee asked.

“I don’t know.’ Alan said. “I truly don’t know.”
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Alan’s feet touched down on the deck of the ship, which was covered by hundreds of giant metal containers stacked about. He exchanged glances with the four people with him; Kylee, Rick, Dave, and “Doc” Eddie Connell, their medic. He started walking towards the bridge.

Alan began climbing the various stairs and ladders leading up the colossal bridge superstructure. Again he was confounded by the lack of crew. A ship this size should have about 30 or 40 people. Someone should have noticed their presence by now.

They approached the door to the bridge. Alan glanced through the portal and, seeing nothing, knocked on the thick metal door. Finally, Alan opened the door and stepped inside.

“Nobody’s home.” Eddie said, glancing around.

Indeed, the bridge was deserted. All the lights were off, and all the equipment seemed to be as well. Alan walked over to one of the computers and began pressing keys, eliciting no response. No power Alan thought. Suddenly Kylee shrieked. Alan turned towards the sound as saw what she was shrieking about.

Lying in a bloody mess on the deck were three corpses, wearing the blue uniforms of crew members. The bodies had been hidden behind one the computers, so they were not spotted on initial entry. The bodies looked to have been killed by a knife or similar weapon; one had it been decapitated, its head lying about ten feet away, another had had its intestines spilled across the floor, and the third had a large slash down the center of its head.

“Holy ****.” Rick said in a panicked voice. “Holy ****!” HOLY ****!”

“We’re too far north for pirates to be a threat. Maybe a crazy crewman?” Dave said.

“Dave,” Alan commanded “Go back to the boat and grab the sixteen gauges we have for sharks.”

“Sure” Dave said, running off.

“Your not planning on staying here are you?” Rick shrieked.

“Yes.” Alan said, keeping his voice calm. “We need to find out what happened.”

“Are you crazy?” Rick exclaimed, now completely hysterical. “I’m getting the **** out of here, man. **** you guys.”

Alan spun around and grabbed Rick by the shoulders, pushing him against the wall.

“Look.” Alan said “It is our duty to find out what happened to these people, and we’ll get out of here once we’ve determined that. If you want to leave, than I suggest you stop *****ing and start looking. Got it?”

Rick was still shaking but managed to nod. Alan turned around as Dave walked back in through the door, bearing five shotguns and several boxes of ammo.

“Everybody take a gun. Stay in groups, Dave and Rick, you’re a group. Go down and search the lower decks. Kylee, Eddie, your gonna help me search the upper decks. Keep in constant radio contact, and don’t get separated.”

As Rick and Dave walked off, Alan and Kylee continued past the bridge and into the mess hall. There were no lights; the dark room was lit only by their flashlights. There they saw six more bodies, all hacked by a knife, like the others. They moved from there to the dormitories, where many crewmen had been murdered in their sleep.

“Captain?” Dave voice came over the radio.

“What have you found?” Alan asked.

“I don’t know, but I can tell you this is no ordinary container vessel.”

“I’m on my way” Alan said.
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Alan passed through the door. The beam of his flashlight revealed he was in the last place he had expected to be: a laboratory. Computers littered the room, and one side of the room was dominated by glass walls. Behind each if these glass walls were operating rooms, with surgical beds and all manner of instruments lying on tables near them.

“What is this place? Some sort of hospital” Rick said, confused.

“Definitely not a hospital, at least not in the traditional sense.” Eddie said.

Dave opened one of the file cabinets lining the wall, pulled out a folder, and began reading the contents.

“I learned some Mandarin when I was with the Army.” Dave said, leafing through the folder. “I’m a little rusty, but these seem to be log books. Something about some experiment. Also, I know this insignia; it belongs to the People’s Liberation Army.”

“So what?” Rick asked. “This whole boat is a Chinese military research vessel in disguise? Doesn’t that violate some treaty or another? Shouldn’t we report this?”

“First we need to figure out what happened to the crew, and ensure that it doesn’t happen to us.” Alan said. “After that, we’ll worry about politics. Dave, I want you to stay here and find out exactly what they were working on, Rick, you help. Eddie I want you-”

A clattering sound resounded from the other side of the room. Alan brought his flashlight to bear and saw two men. Only they were not men. Their skin was pale and corpselike, their eyes wild. Both were clad in the tattered and blood soaked uniforms of crewmembers. One had a deep knife slash running from his left shoulder down to his waist, his entrails hanging out of his stomach. The other had a knife wound to the head, with a deep hole in his forehead that showed his exposed brain. The men began mumbling something in Chinese, all the while slowly approaching them.

“Look, just stay calm.” Alan said, trying to keep his revulsion from appearing in his voice. “We’re here to help you. Dave, what are they saying?”

“They keep mumbling over and over ‘Humanity is imperfect; termination is the only logical course of action.’”

“Termination?” Rick said. He pumped his shotgun and brought it to bear. In response, both men made flicking motions with their hands. Long knife-like blades about 10 inches long extended from their wrists. Then with sudden quickness, one lunged towards Dave’s chest. Dave quickly turned out of the way, and the blade stabbed him in the thigh instead. Rick quickly fired his gun into the man’s chest, sending him reeling back. Alan hit the other one with a shot to the head. Both men dropped to the deck, dead.

“Did you see that?” Rick said. “They had ****ing knives coming out their hands! Did the Chinese create Wolverine knockoffs or something?”

Eddie quickly moved over to Dave, opening up the first aid kit. He quickly injected a syringe of morphine into his leg, and then began applying disinfectant to the cut.

“You’re lucky.” Eddie said as he bandaged the wound, “A little higher and he would have sliced the primary artery. He hit mostly flesh; you’ll be fine in a few days. Until then, we should get back to the ship.”

“I agree.” Alan said. “We’re going back. Get ready to leave.”

“Captain,” Kylee replied, “That will be very difficult. That typhoon is almost on us; we’d never make it through. We’d be better off staying here.”

“**** that ****.” Rick said. “There could be more of those things. We’ve gotta get the **** out of here, man.”

“That would be suicide.” Kylee said. “The Spirit wouldn’t last against a Category 4 Typhoon.”

“I hate to say it,” Eddie said, “But I agree. We should remain here”

“Well that’s just great, man” Rick said, panicking “That’s just ****ing great. Let’s stay here in the dark with a bunch of murderous things so we can avoid a little bad weather.”

“Rick,” Dave said, “Remaining here is the only logical course of action.”

“We are staying here.” Alan said firmly. “The storm will pass in about 6 hours or so; we can last until then.”

Rick stomped off, shaking in both fear and anger.

“In the mean time,” Alan said. “Dave, I want you to translate these files. Eddie, do an autopsy on one of the bodies. Find out why those wounds didn’t kill him. I’m sure those operating tables will have all you need. Me, Kylee and Rick will head back up to the upper decks. There should be some food and supplies there we can use.”

Alan, Kylee, and Rick headed up several flights of stairs until he reached the galley. There they grabbed canned foods off the shelves and stashed them in bags. They then moved into the dormitories and took all the blankets and pillows that hadn’t been soaked with blood. They followed up by raiding the emergency supply lockers. Finally they headed back to the bridge to retrieve the fire ax off the wall there.

When Alan entered the bridge, he found something distinctly different, but he could not put his finger on it. The computers were the same. The desks were undisturbed. The two bodies were-

Two bodies?

Alan pumped his shotgun and turned, finding himself face to face with one of the crewmembers. Rather, he would have been face to face if the man had had a head. Without hesitation he fired, his shots quickly followed up by those of Kylee and Rick, dropping the man to the ground.

“Doc,” he said into this radio. “I just shot the headless horseman’s seafaring cousin. What the hell are these things?”

“Well,” Eddie said, “My autopsy has turned up that these men were dead over a week before you shot them.”

“You’re telling me these are zombies?” Dave asked incredulously.

“Not quite” Eddie said. “Dave has found what the Chinese were working on; nanobots. They are microscopic robots that are capable of self replication. They were going to be used for intelligence gathering. Anyway, something went wrong and the Chinese lost containment. They infected one of the crew somehow, and multiplied inside him until they had enough to take control of his nervous system. That crewman then went insane and killed several other crewmen, whose corpses were also infected. This continued until all the crew was dead.”

“How do you know all this?” Alan asked.

“Among the files, there is a handwritten note from the last survivor. He wrote down everything that transpired. Anyway, my autopsy showed billions of these nanobots in both these men’s bloodstream.”

“How do they spread?” Kylee asked.

I’m not sure.” Eddie said. “I suggest you destroy any bodies you come across; any of them have to the potential to reanimate. I’ve already burned the two specimens.”

“Okay,” Alan said, “Here’s what I want you to do. Prepare to seal off the lab. When we get down, we’ll seal off the room and wait out the storm. When it’s over, we’ll find a way off the ship and back onto the Sea Spirit.”

Alan turned off the radio. He then took the fire ax from the wall and hacked the three bodies into pieces, then headed out.

Almost as soon as they left the bridge, they encountered two more crewmembers, which they dispatched with a hail of gunfire, then destroyed with the ax. This continued as they moved through the ship, before finally reaching the safety of the lab, where the door was locked tight behind them.
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Alan sat in the darkness. The lab was lit only by a salvaged kerosene lamp; its flame casting eerie shadows around the room. Kylee and Rick sat on the far side of the room, talking quietly. Eddie had given Dave a sedative for his leg; he was now monitoring Dave as he slept.

He glanced at his watch; 6:34. It had been less than two hours since they had first come aboard. Alan wondered how that was possible.

Alan suddenly became aware of a low murmuring outside the door. This murmuring gradually became louder, until he could distinctly hear the crew chanting in Chinese; the same chant the men that had attacked Dave had been repeating. Then they began banging on the door. The knife like blades stemming hands began making small indentations in the door.

“How are they doing this?” Rick asked. “That door is two inches of steel.”

“Those blades in their hands are actually composed of billions of nanobots stacked on top of each other.” Eddie explained. His voice was calm, but Alan could see the fear in his eyes. “They are probably able to alter the hardness and density of those blades, so cutting through steel is no difficult task.”

“Doc,’ Alan asked. “If those blades are made up of those robot things, is it possible for them to transfer to another body when they are stabbed?”

“That is a possibility I have considered.” Eddie answered.

“Wait a minuet.” Rick said. “So any minuet Dave here could turn into one of those things?”

“Possibly,” Eddie admitted, “But I doubt it. It took over a week for those other bodies to build up enough nanobots to take over; Dave has only been infected a few hours.”

Dave suddenly stirred. His eyes opened, and he sat up.

“They have arrived.” he said, standing up.

“Yeah,” Rick said, pumping his shotgun. “Let’s get the welcome wagon ready.”

“That would be rash. There are too many of them. Aggressive action would result in failure.” Dave was talking in an eerily calm voice, as if in a trance. Chills ran down Alan’s spine. “We might as well open the door and allow them to enter. It is the only logical course of action.”

“Have you lost you damned mind?” Rick yelled.

Alan made a subtle gesture to Eddie. Eddie nodded, understanding immediately. He dug another syringe out of his bag.

“Dave,” Eddie said. “You had better give that wound time to heal. I am going to give you another sedative so you can sit dow-”

“I’m sorry, Edward. I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Suddenly, Dave lunged; blade extending from his wrist. He stabbed Eddie in the gut, and then tore a line from his stomach up to his neck. “Humanity is imperfect; termination is the only logical course of action.”

He then pivoted and lunged toward Alan. Alan spun out of the way, feeling only a slight sting on his forearm. In a quick motion, Rick raised his gun and fired, and was quickly followed by Kylee. Dave dropped to the floor, dead.

Alan walked over to Eddie and check his pulse; nothing. Alan glanced at his own forearm. There was very small cut there, and it had already stopped bleeding. A cut like that is too small, he thought. I’m not infected. Just to be on the safe side though, he pulled down his sleeve to cover it, before the others could see.

There was a shriek of metal as the first of the creatures started to cut through. A small hole roughly a half inch in diameter appeared in the door, then another.

“We have to get out of here.” Kylee said, afraid.

“We can probably get out through the air ducts in the back.” Alan said. “We’ll get back to the boat and leave. To hell with the storm.”

Rick and Alan stacked some cabinets underneath one of the air vents. Alan then climbed up into the vent, followed by Rick. Alan reached down and began pulling Kylee up. Suddenly, there was a loud shriek of metal, and the door gave way. About two dozen of the creatures rushed into the room; they were all over Kylee in seconds. She screamed as several of them stabbed her at once. Alan lost grip of her hand in the chaos and she fell to the floor.

“Kylee!” Alan yelled. He prepared to drop down but was grabbed by Rick. “Rick, let me go!”

“I’m sorry Captain,” Rick shouted. “We can’t help her. We need to keep moving.”

Alan struggled for a few moments before he gave in. Rick was right; Kylee was already dead at this point. Moving on was the logical thing to do. Alan turned away from the masses of crewmen who continued to swarm around Kylee, and began crawling through the air vent.
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Alan opened the door and stood on the ships deck. The typhoon was in full force; the sky was black, it was raining heavily, and the ship was rocking so hard it was difficult to stand. Still, Alan was glad to be out of the ship.

He and Rick began running toward the Sea Spirit, still tied to the side of the ship, laughing in relief. Suddenly, they stopped in their tracks; a strange murmuring filled the air. Suddenly, from atop one of the many containers covering the deck, a crewman appeared. It was followed by others. More appeared behind them, and to their sides.

“Move!” Rick yelled. They took off running, fueled by pure adrenaline. The creatures on the containers began leaping off, landing in front of them. Soon they were surrounded. Alan raised his shotgun and fired of a few rounds; clearing a path to the boat. However, this path was quickly filled by more.

“Run.” Rick shouted. “I’ll hold them off.”

Alan hesitated.

“Don’t even think about it just go. Goodbye.” Before Alan could protest, Rick grabbed the gun from his hands. Now dual wielding shotguns, he let loose a cloud of buckshot, clearing the way. Alan gave a grateful glance to Rick then ran off. He raced through the maze of containers and leapt the 20 feet from the deck down to the deck of the Sea Spirit; landing safely in the ship’s trawls. He quickly started the engine and pulled the ship away, leaving a crowd of infected crewmembers staring silently at him.

The Spirit was buffeted by waves, water washing over the deck. Alan knew the ship would not withstand the storm. It dawned on him the leaving the container ship had been foolish. Did he honestly believe he could outlast such a storm? He spun the wheel, turning back towards the ship. Returning was, after all, the only logical course of action.
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Very good. I especially like the ending. Like most horror stories, only one person survives, but you put a nice twist on that.

Not that I'm accusing you of plagiarism or anything, but I seem to remember seeing a movie maybe 8 years ago with a similar premise. I think it had Donald Sutherland in it. I don't remember much about it though (it wasn't that good).

Originally Posted by Hell Hawk

Very good. I especially like the ending. Like most horror stories, only one person survives, but you put a nice twist on that.

I'm sorry if I'm being dense, but I didn't get the ending. It doesn't explain why he suddenly wants to go back to the ship.

Not that I'm accusing you of plagiarism or anything, but I seem to remember seeing a movie maybe 8 years ago with a similar premise. I think it had Donald Sutherland in it. I don't remember much about it though (it wasn't that good).

Your thinking of a movie called Virus. While both that movie and this story have involve a ship crew finding an abandoned ship full of robotic creatures, the similarities are mostly coincidental. That movie has something to do with a lighting bolt somehow striking a space station, which somehow causes a computer on a Russian research vessel to become self aware, which somehow converts the crew into cyborgs. In the mean time, we get a bunch of bad acting and implausible plot points.

This story is a lot better written, more plausible, and scarier. Anyway, good job Wrath of Pong.