Sci-Fi Film Fiesta, The Swingin' 60s - The Complete Book by Chris Christopoulos - HTML preview

The Enemy

The enemy becomes visible and identifiable when viewed out of the corner of one’s eye but seems to disappear when looked at directly. Being perhaps composed of little globes of light, this alien life-form could, it is conjectured, be “based on a different plane of vibrations” to humans and that the “strange sonic waves” the crew heard could be their voices.

As Tiona finishes the records for Sanya, she is terrified by the sight of the apparently deceased Bert standing behind the record cabinet door, seemingly poised to do her harm. Karen faints from shock and the others return to find her lying on the floor. There may be some scepticism concerning Tiona’s account of what happened especially with Bert’s seemingly lifeless body lying atop the table.

Bert’s burial service is quickly dispatched with a perfunctory, “rest well... sorry we weren't around to help you…. we'll try to see that you didn't die in vain.” This is followed by “let's not stand around, we've got work to do!” If his ghost is watching he’ll be shaking his fist and muttering, “Is that all you’ve got to say, you bastards!”

“Looks like it's been here for a long time”

While conducting a land survey of Aura, Wess spotted something “shining” which turns out to be the ruins of an alien spaceship a few miles from the Argos.

Markary, Sanya and Carter proceed to the site of the alien ship to investigate. An examination of the vessel’s exterior indicates that “it's been here for a long time” and doesn’t look like any ship the crew has ever seen. Suddenly they spot a giant skeleton on the ground “three times the size of us and judging by the deterioration of the calcium must have been here a long time, probably belonging to an ancient civilisation.”

While Carter stands guard outside, Markary and Sanya venture inside the derelict craft. While cautiously making their way lit by subdued lighting through the immense interior, their presence seems to have triggered a series of strange eerie melodic sounds.

Another giant skeleton is discovered slumped over some kind of control station. Both Markary and Sanya receive a shock when they touch what appears to be an electric torch used by the aliens whose size may have enabled them to hold the device without being shocked.

While they have been exploring the chamber, Markary has managed to activate a recording device which fills the area with a deep almost melodic baritone voice. The voice belonged to the giant alien and what Markary and Sanya’s ears are being subject to is the alien’s language…..saying what exactly? It’s a moot point, however as Markary smashes the console which silences the message and brings the giant skeleton crashing down onto the floor of the vessel.

A somewhat symbolic act! But what is pretty obvious by now is that the crew of Argos and Galliott are not the first ships to be lured into a trap on Aura by the distress beacon.

Markary soon locates a large tuning fork on the console and conjectures that the locking device “could be a sonic one - a lock designed to open only to a certain sound to a certain frequency.”

All of a sudden, in what appears to be a fail-safe device, the air is being drawn out the chamber which is now sealed tight. The tuning fork however is of no use, so Markary throws it away causing it to accidentally strike the electric torch device.. The results produced as a consequence leads Markary to resort to enduring the shocks from the ‘electric torch’ to generate the tone and frequency necessary to open the door lock.

After exiting the alien vessel, Markary and Sanya discover that Carter is nowhere to be seen. They believe that he has probably gone back to the Argos for help. But has he????

Back at the Argos, it is evident that Carter has not yet returned. Rather disturbingly it seems that Tiona has been dramatically affected by what she witnessed when standing guard: “they were there in the fog all mutilated and bloody….I looked right at them…. they didn't go away…..empty faces – dead faces.”

Two apparent surviving crew members of the Galliott, Kier and Sallis, arrive at the Argos where they relate that they “remember descending for landing with all conditions perfect then nothing until we found ourselves fighting our way out of unconsciousness somewhere out there.” They go on to explain that they walked around looking for the Galliott but didn't find her. Their peculiar behaviour, however is noticed along with their inability to adequately explain where they have been since the landing. Their presence seems to indicate that they are indeed alive, but as Tiona observes, nothing is what it seems on Aura. She then insists that she saw the three they buried the previous day along with another one – Bert! One way to find out is to open the graves which Markary orders to be done. A short time later, from one of the graves, only a transparent plastic funeral shroud shoots out revealing the absence of any body.

“It's imperative that our race continue to exist”

Later that same night, Kier and Sallas are caught stealing the Argos’ meteor rejecter from the control room. Kier is able to escape with the rejecter, but Sallas is captured. When the top part of his uniform is accidentally torn open, the other crew members catch a glimpse of putrid flesh and exposed bone. Sailas’ real identity is revealed. He tells the others that he is an Auran entity who has taken possession of and making use of the dead man's body. He goes on to explain that due to their sun burning out and the planet becoming uninhabitable, his species are desperate to escape before they become extinct.

The Imperative

“On this planet many beings who are desperate. We've been in trouble many years now and we're fighting to survive. We arranged for several of you to kill each other

so that we could take over your bodies. You are our last chance, it's imperative that

our race continue to exist….If you were in our place you would understand ….we

cannot build anything - spaceships like this, we need ships to get away. Perhaps

our survival is possible somewhere else. Our sun's been dying….and that means

the end of our species….You heard our message, we never expected you to actually

respond”

The Auran has revealed that the two ships were lured to the planet in order for its species to escape from their dying world and that they have to take possession of the crew members in order to exist in a different atmosphere. In answer to the accusation that such a bodily possession would be parasitical, the Auran states that the hosts must “be willing only to submit, lose their bodies as well as lose their will” and that the relationship would be “symbiotic.” In usual evil alien fashion, the Sallas / Auran entity then declares that resistance is useless and issues an ultimatum stating that either all of them go back to the humans’ home planet, or none will. To underscore this, the Auran adds that “a certain rejector” vital to the human crew has been taken away and therefore they can't leave without it. The rejector will be returned only on condition that they agree to take the Auran’s back with them. Markary resolutely replies that he and his crew are willing to die in order to save their world. In response, the Auran entity vacates Sallas’ dead body which promptly falls to the floor.

“Time's running out”

Markary, in a race against time, quickly activates a plan to stop the Aurans achieving their own nefarious plan of reaching the home planet. First of all, the captain intends to use atomic detonators to blow up the Galliott and its entire cargo of “living dead.” Before doing so, the meteor rejector will need to be retrieved As soon as Wess sees team returning with the rejector, he is to turn on the ignition while the rejector is to be replaced after they are in space which will be risky.

To the accompaniment of the ominous mournful wail of the Auran wind, Markary along with Sanya, Dr. Karan and Tiona make their way to the Galliott to retrieve the meteor rejecter, while Wess stays behind on the Argos. At the site of the Galliott Markary orders Tiona and Dr Karen to hold position while he and Sanya proceed into the ship.

Image by Chatgpt It isn’t long before the captain discovers that his own brother has turned into one of the living dead. While the explosive is being placed within the ship and the meteor rejector retrieved, Markary and Sanya are caught in the act by Toby and a struggle ensues during which Markary shoots Toby in the leg. The rest of the Aurans are alerted by the sound of the struggle and its on for young and old.

Markary and Sanya eventually make it back to where Dr. Karan and Tiona are before a gun battle erupts between the four Argon crew and the pursuing Auran possessed astronauts. Karen and Tiona are killed in the battle while Markary and Sanya make it back to the Argos. The ship manages to take off with the three survivors just as the Galliott explodes. One would think that would be the end of the story….right? Wrong!

“Can you imagine our world invaded by those horrible creatures?

Just thinking about it seems a nightmare”

After declaring that it was “luck” that brought them here, Markary insists that Wess go and get some sleep. While he tries to do just that, he is disturbed by Markary's strange behaviour when he catches a reflection of the captain holding a field ray gun while hovering outside his quarters and seeming to be undecided as to whether or not to enter. When Wess informs Sanya about what he saw, she asks him, “what are your conclusions?” and he replies, “unfortunately there's only one conclusion: even Mark is controlled by one of them!” Samya and Wess then go to confront the captain where Wess is to discover the horrible truth that…….

“Just let one of us join you. It'll give you this wonderful new

complexity”

….both Markary and Sanaya are possessed by the Auran entities! Wess rejects their offer to let him join them and echoing his captain’s earlier declaration, he assures them that he would rather die than submit to them. Before he can be eliminated, Wess dashes off and destroys the meteor rejecter which releases an energy discharge that kills him.

“I was right, it is a puny civilization”

Without the meteor rejecter, there is no way for the Argos to make it back to the home planet. home. Instead, Markary decides that they’ll have to land on a closer planet less then a light year away. It is such a small planet it’s “not even marked on the navigation charts” but has an atmosphere in which they and those who follow them can exist. It is the third planet of the star they call T, “most likely a young primitive world” which we of course know as…... Earth!

The crews of the Argos and Galliott were not human at all, but from another distant planet. 'Sanya' asks 'Markary' how he thinks the people of Earth will accept them. "I hope well... for them," he menacingly replies.