<USS Avalon> The Seventh Circle: Conclusion to this log series and Voices in the Night series.

The Seventh Circle

Conclusion: Dodge Thomas

 

The trip back to the Quantum Research Facility was taken in silence. Neither 
Dodge nor Commander Dallas felt any inclination to speak about what had just 
transpired. Dodge felt sick inside. He had known Hector Van Luden since he had 
been posted to the Avalon. Hector had been such a hard working, honest guy. But 
to see him back there the way he was, so vacant, so distant from the man Dodge 
was familiar with?was terrifying.

?We?re back.? Dodge heard Commander Dallas speak into the communicator.

?Aye sir.?

?Gather everyone in the rec room in ten minutes. We have some things to 
discuss.?

?Sir, we need to talk.?

?Save it for the meeting, Dumont. Dallas out.?

They parked the ice tracker next to it?s twin and headed up and over to the rec 
room.

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?So what you?re saying, Dodge, is that this creature can imitate anything it 
gets a gene sample from?? Carson looked skeptical. ?How accurate an imitation??

?Physical in the least,? Dodge replied. ?We didn?t really have time to take any 
cellular scans.?

?It would have been helpful,? Carson muttered under his breath.

?Well I?m sorry for the inconvenience!?

?Gentlemen, gentlemen. This is all irrelevant now. The fact is, we killed the 
one here. It must have gotten to Van Luden sometime before we killed it.?

?That would be a valid assumption.? Selan spoke.

?So?.? Leila threw the question out and let it hang.

?So we wait out the storm, just like planned.? They all looked out the large 
quadruple paned window at the blizzard that was raging beyond. ?Any luck 
repairing the transmitter??

Clair shook her head. ?No, were you able to salvage anything from the shuttle??

?No. It looked as if Van Luden managed to destroy any viable pieces of 
technology we could have made use of.?

?Then that settles it. We?ll call for help as soon as we get out of here. Until 
then, I suggest we all get a little rest and relaxation. We may have a long 
wait.?

Dodge snorted under his breath. ?Great.?

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The sound of running water soothed Clair Dumont, calming her soul. Occupying a 
recently deceased person?s quarters presented many quasi-religious paradoxes to 
her. She reclined in a comfortable chair in the dim light of the borrowed room, 
sipping at a glass of chardonnay that she had replicated to aid in the soothing 
process. 


?Computer.? She spoke lazily. ?Play something soothing?Bach? ?Ave Maria??play 
the intro as well.?

The computer beeped it?s acknowledgement and soft piano music began. Clair 
stood and walked into the bathroom, slipping her clothing off as she went. They 
lay on the floor next to her bed in a heap.

She stepped up to the bathtub, shutting off the water as she went. In the 
background, the piano music was joined by a single violin. She looked in the 
mirror. The steam from the bath neatly clouded most of her image, showing only 
ghostlike flesh toned shadows to her upper chest. She reached behind her head 
and let down her hair. It fell around her shoulders, a rich brown, like a 
waterfall of chocolate. She tossed it playfully from side to side, then stepped 
in the tub. 

For a long while, she allowed the water to further soothe her, to wash aside 
any fears or worries she had. The strains of ?Ave Maria? faded into the 
distance, replaced by the computer?s selection of similar music.

After a period of time that was nearly an hour, she checked the wall 
chronometer, quickly deciding that it was time to leave. Her fingers were 
pruney, as were her toes. Not exactly the beauty queen look, but then, she had 
always despised those ?miss galaxy? bimbos.

She stood up, water dripping off of her body, and wrapped a towel around her. 
She left the bathroom and entered the main portion of the room, dabbing her 
hair as she went. The cat sat on her bed, looking almost exactly like the 
Sphinx of ancient Egypt.

?How did you get in here?? She smiled at the little gray animal, not expecting 
and not receiving an answer. It stared at her curiously, it?s yellow eyes 
shining in the dim light.

She turned, ignoring it and facing a second, floor length mirror. For a moment, 
she checked herself out in the reflection, mentally judging various aspects of 
her anatomy. Her eyes wandered to the reflection of the cat. It still sat on 
the bed and watched her with an intensity that made her more than nervous. She 
turned to face it, letting out a startled yelp as she did.

It?s eyes had no pupils anymore. Instead of bright yellow and black slits, the 
gray cat possessed only black orbs, dark and primitively horrific. They 
reminded Clair of a shark?s eyes, dull and lifeless but deceivingly so. The cat 
began to pant heavily.

?Okay?kitty?shoo?go away now. Go away.?

The cat arched it?s back, hissing at her as it did so. It began to gag, as if 
it was attempting to dislodge a large hairball. Instead three tentacles lashed 
out from it?s gaping mouth, reaching towards her. She screamed and dodged the 
whipping tendrils, landing hard on the floor as she did so. The cat turned it?s 
head and began to change drastically. It?s legs grew longer and more spindly. 
Clair?s eyes widened and she reached for her shirt.

?Communicator?damn?where is it? I had it here??

She looked up at the horror sitting on her bed. Across the room, she spotted a 
glint of gold. Her communicator had been moved. She scrambled away from the 
monstrosity, pulling herself into the bathroom. The creature which now somewhat 
resembled a crab leapt from it?s vantage point on her bed and scuttled towards 
her kicking feet.


?Fuck you!? She screamed, slamming the bathroom door shut. She could hear the 
creature?s muffled attempts to gain entry. Further away, she could hear muted 
voices calling her name. She screamed in response, hoping someone would come 
help her. There was a loud thud and the door dented visibly. 

Clair heaved herself up from the floor, having hit her knee when she had 
fallen. Blood surrounded a growing purple bruise. She limped as far away from 
the inwardly bending door as she could, splashing back into the bathtub and 
dislodging the plug as she did so. The water formed a tiny whirlpool and began 
to drain away.

The thumping at her door stopped suddenly, replaced only by the panicked 
thudding her heart was making in her ears. She stared at the door, expecting it 
to burst inward at any second.

The whirlpool in the tub stopped abruptly. Four or five large bubbles burped to 
the surface with a loud gurgle. Clair?s blue eyes flicked to where the bubbles 
had been, now only ripples. She sniffed slightly. A few more bubbles rose, 
popping as soon as they broke the surface.

She pushed herself out of the tub and screamed for help. She tried to open the 
door, but it had been pushed off it?s guide.

?Shit!

The water in the tub began to rise slowly. Clair watched in muted horror as it 
trickled over the edge and onto the floor.

?No?not this way?not this way?? She glanced at herself in the mirror, tears 
streaming down her cheeks. Then she shouted at the bathtub.

?If I?m gonna die, I?m going out on my own terms, you son of a bitch!? She 
slammed her fist into the mirror and it cracked into several large pieces with 
a satisfying crunch. The water was now bubbling out of the tub at a frantic 
rate. She gripped a triangular shaped piece firmly, slicing her hands as she 
did.

?I hope you choke on it, ya bastard.? She spat, driving the pointed end of the 
shard into the left side of her neck then pulling it forward. Bright red blood 
sprayed onto the spider-webbed mirror. The tub stopped bubbling. The sound of 
glass dropping to the floor echoed in the bathroom, followed by a heavy thump.

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?Clair! Clair! Let us in! Please!? Dallas pounded on the door to his 
crewmember?s makeshift quarters. ?It?s me, come on. Let me in!?

?Got it!? Dodge shouted. He was lying on his back, attempting to run a bypass 
on the door systems. The door slid apart. 


The interior of the room was thrashed, broken fragments of various 
paraphernalia littered the floors. The door to the bathroom hung from a single 
track. Behind it, they could see Clair Dumont lying on the floor, bathed in her 
own blood.

A large, spider-like creature hung from the ceiling directly above her body. 
Dallas screamed at it then flamed it with his phaser. The animal exploded into 
several hundred fire embossed fragments. Dallas then proceeded to set fire to 
the entire room.

?Dallas,? Dodge finally yelled over the din. ?I think you got it.?

Dallas lowered his phaser, hatred still boiling in his eyes. ?Dodge, I?ll--?

The lights flicked out. 

?Fuller, Criswell, what?s going on??

?I don?t know. Selan?s going to check it out. The main power generator is out 
or something.?

Dallas looked at Dodge. Dodge nodded. ?Let?s go.?

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The power core was dark, just like the rest of the station. The temperature was 
already beginning to drop.

?Selan? Hello?? Dodge hollered into the darkness. Outside, he could hear the 
wind howling. It sounded hungry to him.

?I?m here, sir. Don?t worry.?

?What?s the status on that generator??

?Commander Dallas. It is operational.?

?Operational, my ass. Then why are the lights out.?

Something flashed through the air and in the darkness, a low and guttural moan 
caused Dodge to shiver.

?Join me.? An unearthly voice commanded.

?Piss off!? Dallas tapped the buttons on his phaser and sprinted down the 
staircase towards the howling, moaning creature. ?Get out of here Dodge!?

?Dallas!? Dodge shouted, but his voice was drowned out by the sound of a phaser 
overloading. The creature screamed in anger, then was silenced. Bitter cold 
tore at Dodge?s skin and he hastily backed out of the power room.

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?What happened.?

?It?s over Leila??

?And Selan??

Dodge looked at Carson, anguish haunting his features. ?She was one of them. It 
must have gotten to her as well.?

The temperature had dropped to about forty-eight degrees, and it was still 
dropping.

?What now??

Dodge looked at the two remaining survivors. 

?That signal is still transmitting?maybe somebody will pick it up?maybe they?ll 
pick us up.? Leila suggested optimistically.

Carson glared at her. ?Yea,? He said, mocking her bubbly approach to life. ?And 
maybe we?ll freeze to death! How?s that sound.?

Snow swirled outside the large window of the rec room. No haunting 
monstrosities passed by, threatening them with mindless possession. Dodge was 
momentarily mesmerized by the patterns that the snow made in the wind.

?At any rate, we?ll freeze to death unless we try to stay warm. We could start 
a fire?sing some campfire songs??

The two other people stared at Dodge, then stared out the window with him. They 
were in for a long night on the planet that saw no day, and it was just getting 
started.

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A silent night looked coldly down upon the three survivors of the Avalon, their 
silent pleas for help floating up to space, to a warmer place?should help ever 
come.



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