Collector Ship

by Adam Moon

  It wasn’t long before David could hear the dull thud of the RPG’s and then he saw the windows light up from the flash-bangs. He heard an eerie howl that was part animal and part human scream. If the werewolves of myth were rooted in fact he wondered if the alien’s people had once visited Earth to feast, lending to the legend.

  He heard gunfire and still he waited, impotent. He looked around at the cops in the distance and wondered what the hell they would make of all of this once it was over and their initial fears had abated. They’d have some wicked stories to tell tomorrow at work.

  And then he saw movement on a rooftop across the street. His vision barely registered it but the memory flash that accompanied it led him to believe that he’d just seen another alien. The memory flash showed him an image as alien as the rest. The alien he’d almost seen was now vividly pictured in his minds eye. He looked up at the roof again but it had already fled.

  From memory it looked sort of like an armored spider but he knew that the exterior was nothing but the alien’s equipment. The spider was its tank. Within the protective spidery shell was a small alien with a keen intellect. It was brown and hairless, about three feet tall, weighing no more than fifty pounds. It had an array of eyes that ringed its head so that it always knew all aspects of its surroundings. It had a single nostril as a nose that hung down like an anteater’s and its mouth was a toothless orifice too small to inflict any significant bite damage. All in all, it was the kindest of all the species he’d seen but its temperament could change in a heartbeat if it ever felt threatened. That docile alien would cower and hide and eek out an existence as long as it was left alone. But if it felt trapped or hunted it would unleash a fury that was damn near unknowable. The spidery tank it piloted was a piece of weaponry so advanced that David could barely comprehend it.

  Just then he heard a crash and a follow-up struggle from the meat packing plant. He turned in time to see the werewolf-looking alien on the ground outside a window with Gordon and Gunner wrestling with it in vain. He ran forward with his rifle raised.

  Its head was the size of a Kodiak bear’s so he had no problem finding a target. Once he was sure he wouldn’t hit the others he fired two shots at it that put it down for good.

  He didn’t even have time to worry for his own life. It was a total anticlimax for him, but not for those who’d been inside fighting the thing for the past ten minutes. He considered telling them about the alien he’d just seen across the street. He knew it was gathering intel about its new environment but it wasn’t doing so to help it fight, it was doing it to survive, so he kept his mouth shut, deciding it was better left unmolested for the time being.

  Gunner said, “You jerk, you got its blood on me.” She stood up and wiped blood spatter from her mouth. “Damn it!”

  Gordon rolled off of the huge hairy corpse and fell on his butt laughing at her. “Do you think you’re going to turn into a werewolf now?”

  She stopped wiping and cast him a mean stare. And then she joined in, laughing at herself.

  David kept the rifle trained on the beast just in case it leapt to life and devoured them.

  Olaf jumped through the broken window, breathless. He pulled a handgun and was about to put a few slugs in its brainpan for good measure but Gordon stopped him, saying, “It’s already dead.”

  “I’m just making sure it stays dead.”

  Gordon stood up now. “Leave it. We want to leave the egg-heads something to study, don’t we?” He was referring to the military scientists who would eventually receive the body for study.

  Olaf nodded, holstered his weapon and stumbled backwards. “How did you kill that thing? For a second there I wasn’t sure we stood a chance.”

  “Me and Gunner bull-rushed it right through the window after she blinded it with a flash-bang and then Dave ran up and blasted it in the head.”

  “Good. Where’s Stacey?”

  “I didn’t see her. Did any of you?”

  David’s heart sank. He knew from conversations with Murphy and hints from Stacey that he had once been close with her. He hoped she had survived the ordeal.

  Stacey rounded the corner and David was about to rush forward until he saw the hateful look on her face. That surprised him more than seeing her alive did.

  She walked right up to him and asked, “Is there anything you want to tell us?”

  “Umm. I don’t think so.”

  “I watched you from the third story window just to see what you’d do, unsupervised. I was a little surprised to see you looking right at an alien across the street, perched on that rooftop over there.” She pointed right to the spot he’d caught a glimpse of the spider-shielded alien. “I watched as you stared off into space, allowing it to escape. Explain that to me.”

  He was a little taken aback. “I only caught a glimpse of it and then I got a memory flash. If you saw me hesitate, that’s why; I was remembering it. Then, before I could act, these guys crashed through the window and I came and helped them. What’s the problem?” He knew he was only telling half truths, though. He didn’t hesitate because he was somehow in cahoots with the alien or because he was afraid of it, he didn’t engage it because he knew that the alien posed no danger if left alone. But if he told her that then she’d rightfully accuse him of making decisions for the team that were not his to make.

  She shook her head but she seemed satisfied with his answer so he quickly turned the tables on her. “What gives you the right to spy on me anyway?”

  She chose her words carefully before answering. “I don’t know you anymore. You’re a total stranger to us now. I wanted to make sure you could still be trusted.”

  “Are you satisfied now?”

  “Not yet but I’m getting there.”

  “Well hurry up with it. I don’t have time to be evaluated by any of you just so you feel better around me. We have a mission and it’s about as serious as any mission ever undertaken.”

  She walked past him, towards the dead alien saying, “You’re right. Let’s get out of here.” To Gordon she said, “Help me pick this thing up. Once it’s loaded, take it back for study. In fact, take Olaf with you. By now there’s bound to be an alien or two between here and the naval base and you’ll need back-up if you encounter hostiles.”

  It took all five of them to load the carcass. Gunner jumped in the back of their Humvee as Gordon and Olaf sped away with the dead body.

  The cops started to move closer so Stacey stomped on the accelerator and got out of there before they were inundated with questions.

  Buddy put his head on Gunner’s lap. He was still shivering until she started to stroke his head, soothing him to sleep.

  Stacey hooked back up with the highway and continued north before radioing Murphy with an update.

  He listened and eventually said, “Good work. Without your team that thing might have killed hundreds of innocents.” Then he said something that surprised David because of the kindness in his voice. “The three of you need to find a place to stop and sleep. Felix is en route to rejoin you but you’re susceptible to attack until he gets to you and he’ll never catch up if you don’t slow down. David probably needs the rest anyway. He’s had a long day. I’m sending Olaf and Gordon south after they off-load the creature. We’re getting more and more reports of weird, unexplainable occurrences south of here. But the bulk of the activity is still contained in Wisconsin which is why you need additional support.

  “The military is going to join in the fight soon but you know as well as I do that they don’t know what they’re dealing with. Those damn bureaucrats probably haven’t even told their soldiers what’s going on. They’ll be fighting an enemy with no real intel.”

  Stacey reached forward and looked up nearby hotels, saying, “I’m looking up hotels now. I’ll let you know as soon as we stop for the night.”

  “Okay. Good work today, people.”

  “Thanks.”

  Pit Stop

  Stacey pulled over at a roadside motel and
got them checked in for the night. Stacey and Gunner shared a room and David got his own, at least until Felix caught up with them. Buddy would be his only roommate until then.

  He felt weird checking into his room with no luggage or even toiletries. It was odd to be back in the real world where his bed was more than a dusty old mattress on the floor and he didn’t need to worry about field mice running over his legs in the middle of the night. It was just a cheap motel but it was so much more luxury than he’d grown accustomed to.

  He took a quick shower and redressed. He switched the TV on and immediately regretted it. The world, it seemed, had lost its collective mind. The sporadic alien attacks confused everyone, especially since those in the know weren’t talking. A news report from Milwaukee mentioned a spree killer on the loose. Another mentioned mass hallucination. He turned the set off when a preacher was interviewed. The man was insistent that it was the apocalypse.

  He flopped back and closed his eyes. Buddy curled up on the side of the bed nearest the bathroom and abruptly fell asleep.

  He felt a cool draft and heard his door creak open. He sat up and saw Gunner standing in the doorway with a shy grin on her face. She closed the door and asked, “How much do you really remember of me?”

  He cleared his throat, wondering what she wanted. “I don’t remember anything about you. I’m sorry.”

  She strode forward and said, “Good. Then it’ll be like your first time.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She put a hand on his chest and shoved him back onto the bed, straddling his waist as she went down with him. “We used to have a thing.”

  He looked at her with fresh eyes. She was beautiful now that he was able to see her as something more than a killing machine. “Are you sure? Won’t Stacey have a problem with this?” He had thought he and Stacey had history. If so, she wouldn’t be happy about Gunner being in his room.

  “Stacey understood then and she understands now. You really need to take the serum that Murphy gave you. It has all the answers you seek.”

  He was about to tell her he wasn’t sure he was ready to allow another cocktail of chemicals to influence his mind but he didn’t get the chance. She leaned in and kissed him on the mouth. At first he was paralyzed from surprise but then exhilaration took over and he reciprocated.

  When Felix knocked on the door two hours later, Gunner was gone and David was sleeping more heavily than he’d slept in months.

  Felix nudged him and he sat up.

  David asked, “When did you get here?”

  “Just now.” He looked around and then asked with a sly grin, “Did Gunner come and tuck you in tonight?”

  David said nothing. Then he asked, “How did you know?”

  “Old habits die hard.”

  “Won’t Stacey be pissed when she finds out?”

  “She already knows, man. It’s fine. Let’s get some sleep. Do you want to share the bed or should I sleep on the floor?”

  David sat up. “I already slept for about an hour. I’ll take the floor. Do you mind if I put the TV on?”

  “I’d prefer it actually.” He paused and coughed. “Thanks for saving my life back there. The others got on you but I know you’re doing your best.”

  “Thanks. But I could do so much better if I could just remember everything that spaceship put in my head all at once. I hate that the info doesn’t come to me until the very last second.”

  Felix got in bed and said, “I wonder if it’s the ship’s fault or the fault of the program that the info won’t come to you all at once.”

  “Huh?”

  “Your mind was kneaded and kicked and twisted by the program. And then right before they could make it right again, you ran off. Your memory already sucked long before that ship downloaded the intel about the aliens into your brain. Maybe you’re meant to have full access to the info the ship gave you but the mind control from your days with the program is somehow screwing it up. Have you thought of that?”

  His memory had always been patchy at best and nonexistent at worst. So it was no wonder he had a hard time recollecting what the ship had downloaded into his head when it tried to abduct him. He stared at the vial on the nightstand and said, “Do you think I’d be able to access all of my memories, even all the ones the ship gave me, if I took that serum?”

  “I would think so. But I don’t know. The serum made me puke for a week and gave me migraines from hell. My brain swelled up twice before I came around. Who the hell knows what it would do to you. Your mind has taken a beating. I have to wonder how much more it can take.”

  “Pass me the vial.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. I’ve been stubborn and hateful. But there’s more at stake than my pride.” He wanted to know more about the aliens but Gunner’s arrival in his room a couple of hours ago piqued his interest in the humans around him too. How many good memories of her had he lost? If he could get them all back, why wouldn’t he try?

  “Can you wait until after I get some sleep?”

  “Sure, but why?”

  “If you have an adverse reaction the rest of the night is going to be bullshit. I’ll have to drag you out to the truck and drive you to a hospital. I’m too tired for all of that nonsense now.”

  David chuckled. “No problem, man. Get some rest.”

  David knew right away that he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. He had slept just enough to stave off exhaustion and he had too much going through his mind to relax.

  He dressed and then crept outside. He needed some air and he needed a nice walk to help him align his thoughts. Images of Gunner’s body trickled across his mind. In a way he was lucky. The older version of him had laid all of the groundwork and now he was reaping rewards. He hoped he had satisfied her as much as the older version had, or more. He wondered what sort of arrangement he had with Stacey. If they had been an item then she was extremely open-minded to turn a blind eye to Gunner. But the more he thought about it the more he realized he was not attracted to Stacey in the least. Sure, she was beautiful but not in a fun, tomboy way that David liked so much. Gunner epitomized his perfect woman in every way. Plus, it was obvious that whatever connection he had to Stacey was strained to say the least.

  Just as he was wondering when he’d get to see Gunner again, Stacey rounded the corner of the hotel with a paper cup of coffee clutched in her hands. She nearly spilled it when she saw him. She asked, “What the hell are you doing up? You must be exhausted.”

  “I got a quick nap. I don’t sleep much.”

  “Yeah, I guess I remember that. I can’t sleep either.” She sat down on the curb by the sidewalk and sipped her coffee. David sat next to her, making sure he kept enough distance so she didn’t feel uncomfortable.

  He wanted to talk to her about Gunner but he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear what she had to say about the situation. The prolonged silence dragged out for so long that he said the next thing that popped into his head. “Do I have a family out there somewhere?”

  She stared at him with something akin to pity in her eyes. Then her gaze hardened and she said, “You’re still too gutless to take the serum, aren’t you? If you take it, you’ll have your answers.” She paused to blow on her coffee. “In fact, I’m not going to tell you about your family. The only way for you to find out is for you to take it.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I was going to take the stuff but Felix asked me to hold off until he gets some sleep.”

  Anger flashed through her eyes. “That moron had no right! I’ll kill him.”

  “What? Relax. What’s the big deal? The poor guy’s exhausted.”

  “He knows we need you to take it so that you get your memories back. Your intel comes too sporadically. If you undo the memory blocks with the serum, you’ll be able to tell us everything you know about the aliens.”

  “That’s what I assume too, but what if we’re wrong? What if I take it and I can’t remember what the ship loaded into my brain any better than
I can now? Or what if the serum has a negative reaction on the downloaded memories?”

  “If that happens, then at least we’ll have our old David back. Even if you can’t access those memories, you’ll unlock memories of your training and become an asset to the team. I’ll take that over what you are now.”

  “And what is that?”

  “Worthless.”

  He stood up and huffed, “Nice talk. See you later.”

  She mumbled something by way of an apology under her breath as he walked away in search of the same coffee she’d found. He didn’t know exactly why she was so hostile to him and at the moment he didn’t care. She was certain that the serum could only benefit him and she was so convinced in her belief that he trusted her. He had been close to taking the serum but now he was adamant about taking it. He knew there was another motive behind his change of heart now too, though. He wanted her to like him.

  He turned on his heels and marched back over to her. He glared at her from above. “I’ll take it right now but you’re in charge of making sure I survive it.”

  She stood and said, “Go and get the vial. I’ll get the truck started just in case anything weird happens and I need to rush you to the emergency room.”

  Doubts were swirling around his confused mind but he had to soldier on if he wanted to find the answers he sought. The decision was a choice he consciously made but at the same time, it was expected of him. The moment the alien ship targeted him for abduction was when the ball started rolling and everything afterwards was leading to this eventuality. He took some solace in the fact that it seemed the universe had destined him to drink the serum from the very beginning.

  He crept back into the room and grabbed the vial. Luckily Felix didn’t wake up as he left. Then Stacey led him back to her room.

  Gunner was splayed out on the lone bed, fast asleep. Their presence didn’t even cause a stir in her.