Collector Ship

by Adam Moon

  It broke David’s heart to leave Gunner behind but to stay would doom her and the rest of humanity. He hated to admit to himself that he was secretly delighted that Stacey volunteered to join him. The thought hadn’t even crossed his mind until she mentioned it. He considered arguing with her just because it was the right thing to do, but they started to hear shots being fired from outside, so they had to act fast.

  David quickly placed the cable back on top of his head and Number One did the same.

  He thought: We’re all coming with you. We need to hurry or they’ll damage the ship out there.”

  Number One thought: Good. I only needed a single helper to watch the ship while I gathered intel at the arena planet but extra warriors are always appreciated. I’ll jump us to the surface and then let the ship’s autopilot take over from there.”

  David mulled that over for a bit before thinking: Perhaps you should jump us out of range of surface-to-air missiles, just in case.

  Number One: Of course I should. See, you’re already proving to be an asset.

  Number One disconnected and then set about at the consoles trying to coordinate their escape.

  Stacey said, “Tell her to hurry up. There’s a chance this cavern is rigged with explosives for this very reason.”

  “When did you decide it was a she?”

  “Because if it’s another guy I’ll drown in testosterone.”

  “I don’t know if aliens even have hormones like we do.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Tell her.”

  He turned to Number One with his cable in hand but she was already making progress. The ship vibrated and then a holographic monitor appeared showing the rock walls outside of the ship. Then the walls vanished and they were looking at the bright blue sky.

  David said to Stacey, “We’re out. Try to contact dad and Gunner.”

  She keyed her radio and when Murphy’s voice came back she said, “Dad. We were wrong. Alien number one was not a threat to us. It’s taking the collector ship to wipe out the collector aliens.”

  “How do you know that? You have to stop it.”

  “Well, you’re not going to like this, but we’re actually helping it.”

  There was a pause and then, “Hand the radio to David.”

  David took it and said, “Hurry up, dad. We’re running out of time.”

  “What do you mean? Where are you?”

  “We’re going to the collector planet. Number One is certain that if the collectors find out that we grounded their ship, they’ll eradicate us. I believe her.”

  “What the hell…Damn it! Put your sister back on.”

  Before he handed it over he said, “Buddy is being held in Charleston so send someone to fetch him from Commander Henshaw.” His voice cracked when he said, “Tell Gunner I love her and I’m coming back for her.”

  Stacey took the radio and said, “We’re out of time, dad. We love you. You trained us for the worst and we found it. This is what we were made for.”

  There was no response and when they turned to the holographic image, they knew why: they were already in space.

  The stars didn’t twinkle like they usually did when seen from Earth and there were more of them than David had ever seen at once.

  Number One had a hand to her temple as she looked at the readouts on the consoles. She looked at the holographic image and then back at the consoles before she stood tall and looked at David. She plugged her cable in so he did too.

  One: I think I see where the ship is heading. With the distance involved and the rate of speed we’re traveling at, we wouldn’t be expected for another ninety six Earth years.

  David: Are you sure you know exactly where it’s headed?

  One: We’ll cross paths with a planet that seems capable of sustaining life forms like ours. I’m certain it’s our destination. I could jump there now but I want a little more time to investigate this ship before we land. It might hold some useful clues about the collectors that we can use against them. I’ll let you know when I’m done snooping around.

  When David disconnected and faced the rest of the team, Olaf was staring at the hologram in wild eyed wonder, Stacey was hugging herself as if she were freezing and Gordon was trying to find a nice comfortable place to take a nap. Clearly Gordon had perfected going-with-the-flow. Even space travel didn’t rattle him. He was either supremely confident or plain stupid. David knew he was the former, though.

  He put a hand on Stacey’s shoulder and said, “She’s found out where the ship is headed. But first she’s going to try and see if she can glean additional intel from the ship before we jump.”

  Stacey stared past him. “Uh huh. That sounds good.” She was in a fugue state.

  “You’re the one who wanted this. Remember that.”

  She snapped out of her delirium. “You’re right. We need to find weapons if we’re going to fight.”

  He had overlooked that one crucial flaw in the plan. The nanobots had eaten their guns.

  He plugged back in to speak with Number One and luckily she was still connected.

  David: We have no weapons. We might not be much help after all.

  One: I confiscated some guns when you released us from cryo-sleep. A few aggressive aliens tried to kill me so I was forced to defend myself.

  She walked over to the hatch in the ceiling she’d hidden in and reached up. She pulled out several mean looking contraptions and laid them on the floor at her feet.

  She thought: Let me show you how to work them.

  Five minutes later he was proficient at alien firearms and five minutes after that he’d trained the team how to operate them. Olaf picked the biggest meanest looking gun, but they had no way to know if it was as formidable as it looked. They’d have to wait until after they landed to test fire them.

  Stacey sat beside Gordon and Olaf and David huddle together with them. For her part, Number One seemed disinterested in them as she searched the ship for additional intel.

  Stacey looked into David’s eyes. “Do you think we’ll ever return home? Can we really win this fight?”

  David shrugged his shoulders which was a huge understatement considering the gravity of her questions. He clarified, “Number One doesn’t even know what to expect when we land. But I believe her that this must be done or else our species is doomed.”

  “Will they be expecting us?”

  “The ship wasn’t due to arrive for another ninety six years, based on its current rate of speed. In that case, we should be able to catch them by surprise.”

  Olaf turned on him. “Do you mean to tell me that the collector aliens wouldn’t have even found out that we’d interfered with their ship for another ninety six years? If that’s right then we had nothing to fear. They wouldn’t come looking for another century and by then we’d all be dead and buried. We shouldn’t have come. This feels wrong.”

  David scowled. “You’re right. But if we don’t fight them, who will? This is the only ship we’ve ever known with the ability to take us to them. If we’d waited then Number One would have left without us. This has to be done and it has to be done now. I don’t care that they won’t come looking for another century. We have to do this to safeguard future generations.”

  Olaf sighed, defeated. “I know you’re right. I think space travel doesn’t agree with me.”

  Stacey added, “I can second that. It freaks me out knowing that the only thing between us and certain doom is a metal capsule built by a species I’ve never even seen. And what if the atmosphere on the planet kills us when we land? We should have planned this better. There are so many variables and it’s no stretch to assume that many of them could lead to our demise.”

  David thought about it. “I think the planet will be suitable for us. It’s suitable for the aliens that this ship abducted and all of those aliens survived in Earth atmosphere. I’m more worried about the fight we have ahead of us. We won’t know what to expect so we’ll have to rely on our training to guide us.”

>   Something lightweight hit David on the shoulder. He looked up and Number One was gesturing for him to connect his cable. He walked over to her and put the end of the cable against the top of his head to interface with her.

  One: I’ve unlocked a few secrets but none of them will help us much. When we land, a battle will be going on already. The planet is nothing more than a battleground for the collectors. They have multiple collector ships just like this one out in the galaxy and many of them are already on their way back to the planet. What that means is that we might be forced to defend ourselves once we get there.

  That was odd news to hear, that their collector ship with its diverse alien occupants wasn’t unique. Because it was so bizarre to him, he’d assumed it must have been unique. It was worse knowing that there might already be dozens of frightened and aggressive aliens waging war on one another when they arrived.

  David: Why don’t we wait until they all kill each other off?

  One: We don’t know how long that might take. We might wait until they’re all dead and then another collector ship could show up and drop off more combatants. There’s no way for me to know when it’ll be safe. We just have to hope for the best.

  David: Anything else to report?

  One: I worried that this ship would self-destruct the moment we landed and I was right. The nanobots are programmed to devour it the moment we land.

  David: If the collectors aren’t on the battle planet then we need this ship to eventually find them. Maybe we should rethink this.

  One: I already flushed the nanobots into space. They’re no longer a threat to the ship. We can commence as planned.

  David: Oh, that’s good thinking.

  He suddenly felt foolish for second guessing Number One. She was way ahead of him.

  David: When should we expect to get there?

  One: We’re landing now. Get ready

  David: Shit. We’re not ready.

  One: Neither are they.

  David: Okay. We’ll follow your lead.

  One: Just fight when you have to and misdirect if you can. I need time to find clues to the collector’s whereabouts.

  David disconnected and said to the team, “We’re landing. Get ready to fight. There’s a battle already going on down there so be prepared to defend yourselves. Number One will take point. We need to protect her.”

  They all jumped up except for Gordon who leisurely slid up the wall and yawned.

  Olaf got an instant case of the hiccups and Stacey started to shiver. It was more than the thought of fighting that had them unnerved; they were about to step onto an alien world. No one had done that before, and for good reason: it was impossible, given human limitations. They were about to do the impossible. Just hours ago they had their feet planted firmly on terra firma. The only one of them to escape the jaw dropping awe of the situation was Gordon. He simply double checked his alien weapon and waited for the fight to ensue.

  They crowded into the main area with all the consoles and the hologram to watch their progress. Sure enough, the hologram showed an alien world outside of the ship.

  Stacey said huffily, “A little warning next time would be appreciated.”

  David looked his alien gun over and said, “I just found out. Luckily the plan is simple: keep Number One alive until she finds what she’s looking for.”

  “What do we do after that?”

  “We run our asses off back to the ship and get the hell out of here.”

  She visibly relaxed. “That sounds like a plan I can get behind. How many aliens are out there?”

  “I don’t know and we won’t have the advantage this time because I don’t have any intel on these ones.”

  “Let’s just shoot them and see if that does the trick.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me. Get ready.”

  Battle Planet

  Number One looked at David and he nodded. The door opened and warm sea air wafted inside the ship. The world was colorful in all the wrong ways. The sky was pink and green. Two suns cast their light, one larger than the other. A moon twice as big as any full moon he’d ever seen swam across the sky. A lush forest was laid out before them but the foliage was like nothing they’d ever seen before. The trees were thick like buildings and their branches curved and twisted upwards enveloped by black leaves that looked like they were made of leather. They heard waves crashing at the rear.

  Number One rushed past them through the doorway so they scurried to catch up. She stopped right outside the entrance and pointed back to the ship. She slapped Olaf and Gordon on the back and led them back inside. They both understood that they were expected to stay behind with the ship. None of them had considered that leaving it unmanned was the equivalent of suicide. Marooned aliens would try to take it from them to flee the planet.

  She pointed to a sensor on the side of the doorway and then showed them how to activate it manually. They both looked at Stacey and David as if to seek confirmation that Number One was their new leader.

  Stacey said, “She’s right. You guys need to make sure this ship is here when we get back. I’ll knock three times so you know it’s us.”

  Number One walked out of the ship and then watched as Gordon activated the door. It slid shut and she patted David on the head before running off again.

  They followed after her until she crouched behind a large tree. She beckoned them to do the same. A large white orb flew overhead, fifty feet above the tree canopy. She pointed at her eyes and then up at the flying orb and David knew what she was trying to tell him. The orb was some sort of camera controlled by the collectors so they could view the battlefield from a safe distance.

  As she stared up at the sky, her eyes followed the orb and then she abruptly did a double take and her gaze locked midway up a distant tree.

  David squinted to try and see what she was looking at but whatever it was eluded him. She pulled her alien rifle and stared down the sights. Then she squeezed the trigger once and something dark fell from the tree, hitting the ground with a thud they heard even from so far away. Whatever it was, it had camouflaged itself for ambush.

  Number One started to climb the tree, in search of the orb’s destination.

  She got to the top while Stacey and David watched the ground on either side. Then she slid down and pointed. Before they could figure out how to ask her what she meant she started to jog away in that direction so they gave chase.

  They ran for ten minutes, stopped, found cover, and killed an evil looking alien. They ran for another five minutes when David caught a glimpse of something in the trees, fired a shot and hit something big that came tumbling to the ground. David’s training was finally starting to fully kick in, and just in time.

  They ducked when another orb flew overhead and five minutes afterwards they were finally clearing the tree line. There were rocky hills before them covered in a purple and yellow moss-like substance. As they walked over it, the moss clung to their boots but it proved to be harmless.

  They were following Number One on faith alone. They had no idea if she knew what she was doing. Did she see something on the orb or in its movements that tipped her off where to go? Had she spotted some sort of pattern to the orbs or an anomaly on the horizon that just looked out of place? They had no clue. But what set their minds at ease was the fact that she had managed to navigate Earth with precision, knowing exactly where she had to be and when to be there in order to escape. She was some sort of tracking genius.

  The moss ended abruptly. The purple gave way to dead brown moss and then to nothing but black and white rock. They climbed the steep rock face in front of them and hunkered down at the top while Number One surveyed the landscape. There was a muted boom from behind them deep in the forest. They hoped it didn’t come from the ship, but they were sure it had.

  David looked behind him in time to see a little furry colorful alien rolling across the moss towards the rocky hill they were perched atop. From a distance it looked cute but if it was coming for them
then it was probably going to try and kill them. It screamed out in a guttural voice that did not match its adorable body. David craned his neck and squinted to see why it was suddenly so agitated. He saw the purple moss come to life beneath the furry animal. It grew long tendril-like hairs that lapped up at the fluffy creature. The ends met above it and intertwined. And then the tendrils squeezed together, crushing the poor alien.

  David wanted to help it but he didn’t dare go near that moss now that he saw what it was capable of. Maybe it had only spared them because they were all wearing footwear. Maybe it could sense or taste organics and their boots had saved them. He didn’t know but he felt very lucky as he witnessed the fuzz ball being crushed like a tin can.

  A minute later the creature stopped struggling.

  David turned back around to find himself alone. Number One was running at a full sprint down the other side of the rocky hill and Stacey was a hundred feet away yelling for him to hurry up. He leaned forward and ran as fast as he could.

  Number One had her eye on the horizon. Like a tiny mote of dust, almost indistinguishable, there was an orb in the distance. It flew straight at another rocky outcropping but instead of smashing against it, it vanished from view within a hidden cave. Perhaps it was going to film another battle raging somewhere deep inside the rocks in some type of cavern but more than likely it was going somewhere secret, like a home base or charging station or something. Either way, it was their only link to the collectors so they gave chase.

  They knew they were on the right track when an alien-looking drone emerged from the cave the orb had entered. It looked nothing like the orbs they’d previously seen. It spotted them and then it came to life, firing upon them in thick bursts from dual cannons on its sides, taking huge divots out of the rock at their feet.

  Number One fired twice hitting it both times but all it did was spin around. She fired a three round burst before it righted itself and then she leapt high into the air. They’d seen a lot of weird shit since discovering aliens but to see Number One jump so high was the strangest of all. She was at least fifty feet up when she latched onto the drone and brought it down. Luckily the drone fought to stay airborne which helped soften her landing. She held it down with her knee and used the butt of her gun to smash, and then pry the drone apart. She snatched up some glowing cables from within and inspected them. Then she shook her head in disgust and ripped the innards to pieces rendering the drone immobile.