The Dark Ship

by Phillip P. Peterson

  Jeff sobbed. His father opened his eyes again for a moment and his gaze was very clear. “Where are we?” he asked in a trembling voice.

  “On the black ship,” Jeff whispered.

  “Hell was really just an illusion? I’m alive?”

  Jeff nodded. He wiped the tears from his cheeks.

  “Yes.”

  How could he explain it to his father? How could he tell him he had woken him from the dead, only to let him die again?

  “But I’m so tired,” his father whispered. “I think I need to sleep now.”

  Jeff nodded. He couldn’t speak because of the lump in his throat.

  “Will you stay with me until I’ve fallen asleep?”

  Jeff squeezed his father’s hand. “Yes.”

  His father looked him straight in the eyes, as if he wanted to hold onto Jeff and to life with his eyes. But then they glazed over and his head fell limply back into Jeff’s arms.

  The console made three long beeping sounds.

  “I’m sorry,” Jerry said after a short silence.

  Jeff sobbed and hugged his father’s body.

  “I think you should make your way to the escape pod now. It is only another fifteen minutes until the reactors overheat.”

  Jeff was unable to move. He couldn’t go on. All he wanted to do was curl up beside his father and close his eyes. But he had to think of Joanne. He was responsible for her, too. Jeff bit his lips, until the salty taste of blood filled his mouth. He had to get up. There would be time to mourn later.

  Gently, he laid his father’s body on the ground and loosened the last cords and cables that connected him to the cryogenic pod. He stroked his cheek one last time and then got up.

  “Let’s go.”

  Jerry led the way. Jeff followed him into the elevator.

  “What’ll become of you?” Jeff asked as they waited.

  “We are tired after eons of roaming this ship, and now that the demon has been destroyed, we are looking forward to being finally released.”

  “You don’t mind?”

  “Not in the least.”

  The doors of the elevator opened and Jeff followed Jerry into a narrow corridor at the end of which was an oval hatch.

  Jeff frowned. “That doesn’t lead to the control center.”

  “No, but to the escape pod.”

  Jeff turned around. “I still have to get Joanne!”

  “My friends have already taken her on board, everything is ready.”

  Jerry opened the hatch, and then another one right behind it. Jeff found himself in an elongated, oval cabin with a few seats and two large windows at the front. Joanne was sitting unconscious in one of the seats, already strapped in. At the back of the capsule were five open cryogenic pods.

  “How am I supposed to fly this thing?” Jeff asked, looking down at the controls on the two front seats.

  “As I said, everything has been prepared. As soon as the hatch closes, go to the front and strap yourself in. Then press the illuminated button. The escape pod will take off and leave the mother ship.”

  “And how do I get to the next star system?”

  “The pod will continue its course as programmed by the mother ship.”

  “You mean, the ship is flying toward Earth?” Jeff asked.

  “I don’t know. The target is a G-class system, the third planet from the sun. According to the database, it has a satellite and large amounts of liquid water. And it—”

  Jeff gave a wave of his hand. “OK. That sounds like Earth. How long will the flight take?”

  “Since the escape pod has a lower mass, it can make longer hyperjumps than the mother ship. The computer calculates a flight time equivalent to one hundred and twenty of your days. Upon arrival at your destination, the spacecraft will automatically search for a landing site and initiate the appropriate maneuver.”

  Jerry pointed to the back of the cabin.

  “The cryogenic pods are very easy to use. You lie down in it and press the oval button in front of you. The device will do everything else. It will wake you when you have reached your destination.”

  Jeff nodded and stretched out a hand. “Thank you, Jerry.”

  The alien took his hand. It felt cold. “We thank you for freeing us from our suffering. I wish you and your species all the best. I hope you enjoy a better fate than ours.”

  Jeff swallowed. “Thank you. I would like—”

  “There’s no more time.” Jerry withdrew his hand and hurried back out of the hatch. “Another sixty seconds. Close the hatch and prepare for departure. You must hurry if you want to live.” Then he closed the hatch of the mother ship. Jeff pulled the lever on the inner door of the flight capsule and it closed with a dull thud. A pneumatic hiss told him the hatch was sealed.

  He hurried along the narrow cylinder of the ship’s hull. Joanne was groaning and holding her head. She seemed to be slowly regaining consciousness. “Everything’s going to be OK,” he said as he walked past.

  He sat down in the chair. It was too small for him and he had to squeeze himself into it. He reached for the harness, which was very similar to one on a human ship, pulled it over his waist, and snapped it shut.

  A yellow button shone directly in front of him.

  He took a deep breath and pressed it.

  Immediately he was pushed forward against his belt. The capsule was going to be ejected backward. He looked out of the window in front of him into a dark tunnel, whose dimly lit walls slid past at breakneck speed. The capsule vibrated violently and he was thrown back and forth in his seat.

  For what seemed like an eternity, they raced backward through the long tunnel, reminding him once again how gigantic this ship was. Surely the sixty seconds must be up. Jeff fully expected a giant explosion to tear apart the ship, the tunnel, and the escape pod, sending him into the afterlife.

  Then, suddenly, they were outside!

  He could see a few stars; more and more appeared as the demon ship retreated from view, until it was barely more than an outline.

  Just a few seconds later it had disappeared completely. Any moment now … Jeff was wondering what would happen when the ship’s reactors exploded, when he was almost blinded by an incredibly bright flash of light. Jeff closed his eyes, but the light penetrated his closed eyelids.

  He forced himself to open his eyes again and saw a giant yellowish orb in front of him, growing larger.

  It will devour us!

  But the brightness of the explosion subsided and collapsed in on itself until only a faint, red afterglow in space indicated the former existence of the alien ship.

  Jeff sighed with relief. They’d done it!

  He unbuckled himself and stood up. At least there was artificial gravity in this escape pod. He went over to Joanne, who was slumped in a seat two rows behind. She had opened her eyes. Her gaze was clear as she looked out of the window. Jeff leaned over her.

  “We’re in space,” she said.

  “Yes, we got away. We made it, and we’re on our way to Earth.”

  “That bright explosion just now. Was that the black ship?”

  Jeff nodded. “Yes, it’s been destroyed.” He forced himself to smile. “Everything’s going to be OK. How do you feel?”

  “Not too bad. I’d like to get up. Can you undo my belt?”

  “I think you should rest a bit more.”

  “Please,” she implored.

  Jeff sighed and leaned forward to undo her belt.

  From the corner of his eye he saw Joanne raise her arm but thought nothing of it.

  Pain exploded through his temple and he blacked out.

  35.

  Jeff regained consciousness, groaning. His head hurt so badly, he thought it would break into a thousand pieces at any moment. He had to force himself to open his eyes.

  “You’ve woken up,” he heard Joanne’s voice somewhere behind him. He wanted to turn around but couldn’t. He was shackled to the seat in front of the window, where Joanne had just been
sitting. His arms were tied to the armrest with thin straps. His feet were hanging freely above the floor, but they were tied together at the ankles.

  Joanne came into his field of vision from the right-hand side. She was grinning. But he could see immediately that it wasn’t Joanne’s grin. The demon had taken off her combat suit, she was wearing only a white top and skimpy white panties.

  “You’re still alive!” Jeff said. He couldn’t believe it.

  “Yes. I’m surprised myself that it worked,” said the demon. “It seemed that the prospect of death helped my consciousness make the leap to her body.”

  “But the shield in Joanne’s suit—”

  The demon gave a dismissive wave. “Green broke that already. It was the only way to take possession of her. Worked with Owl, too.” He chuckled. “And you dimwits didn’t notice a thing.”

  Jeff jerked forward but the restraints were too tight.

  “Don’t even try.” the demon said. “You don’t stand a chance.” He laughed, and globules of spit landed on Jeff’s face. “In the end, I won after all.”

  “But the ship is destroyed.”

  Joanne’s body shrugged. “But now I have a nice new, young body. That’s worth something.” The demon ran a hand over Joanne’s breasts.

  “Do you want to know what I’m going to do?” the demon asked. He didn’t wait for Jeff to respond. “I will go to Earth and take over your Emperor. He’ll soon develop a few new hobbies. In the cellar of his palace there’s plenty of room for a nice dungeon, full of nice toys. It was starting to get a bit boring on the ship anyway.”

  “You’re gross,” Jeff hissed.

  “You’re repeating yourself,” the demon said, rubbing between his legs with Joanne’s left hand. In the other, he was holding a slender knife with a black handle. “That’s a nice feeling. I never did understand human sexuality. My former body didn’t have anything like this. We still have a little time till we get to Earth. Maybe we can use it to experiment a little.” He came nearer and sat down on Jeff’s lap. “I could ride you. That way it’s enjoyable for both of us. Oh yes, let’s do that.” Then he raised his other arm and examined the knife. “And while we do it, I’ll slowly slit you open and keep on riding you till you’re dead. What do you think of that?”

  Jeff’s eyes narrowed to slits. He didn’t answer.

  “It was almost too easy.”

  “What do you mean?” Jeff couldn’t stop himself from asking.

  “After I took over Green, it was no problem killing the others. I didn’t actually want to bring you to the center of the ship, I just wanted to have a little fun. Green was supposed to kill you all, one by one, like he did Fields and Irons.”

  “You were lucky that Green’s deflective shield was broken.”

  Joanne shrugged. “I only found out about your protection fairly late. I’d been wondering why I couldn’t take over any of you. I tried it with you, too.”

  The headaches he’d had—that they’d all had! It had been the demon’s unsuccessful attempts to possess them.

  “And then you pretended to be the computer. A clever idea.”

  “Yes—that was a lot of fun. Improv theatre, so to speak. But some of Irons’ questions got me into a bit of a sweat.”

  “And who put the food outside the door?”

  Joanne laughed loudly. “That was particularly amusing. I sent one of the ship’s avatars and dissolved it as soon as it had knocked on the door. You should have seen your faces!”

  Jeff shivered as Joanne’s hand caressed his face almost tenderly.

  “Actually I wanted to kill you and not Irons that night. But when the Major told you about the codes on the device, I changed my plans.”

  “You were listening in?”

  “Of course! I heard every word you spoke.”

  Jeff shook his head. “Then why didn’t you kill me and have the Major bring the handheld to the center of the ship?”

  “Irons was too stubborn for me. He might have destroyed the thing too soon.”

  “So why didn’t you just kill me later and have Green bring you the device with my finger? You didn’t know about the password any more than I did.”

  Joanne nodded eagerly. “That’s true. I didn’t know. But I thought I could turn it into a nice little game and kill you all, one by one, until only you were left. The fact that you guessed the password was a stroke of luck. I never would have thought of it myself. But it was fun, wasn’t it?” The demon moved his face even closer, so that Jeff could smell Joanne’s breath. He needed all the willpower he could muster not to turn his head to the side.

  “Then you sabotaged Owl’s and Joanne’s suits,” he said.

  “Yes, that was easy. All I had to do was break the connections to the shields and then I was able break their spirits.”

  There were no bounds to this creature’s evil!

  But he had to keep him talking until he came up with an idea. His mind was racing. “One more thing—in the first cavity we found the bones in the mass grave. Were they from the avatars?”

  The demon shook his head. “Those were real humans. I didn’t put all of them in cryogenic pods. I took some of them straight to the cavitys to experiment with them. But it wasn’t much fun because they broke too quickly. It’s more fun to slowly destroy the soul than to quickly break the body.”

  Joanne stroked his cheeks again. “But now we’ve chatted enough. Let’s finally have some fun.” The demon leaned over him and before Jeff could react, kissed him on the mouth. He could feel Joanne’s tongue on his lips, which he pressed together as tightly as he could.

  Finally the demon laughed, pulled back his head, and stood up. He went to the back of the capsule and rummaged around in a compartment. “Of course, we need protection. You always need to protect yourself during sex, that’s what I’ve learned.” He chuckled and returned to Jeff. In his hand he was holding a thin, silver metal cylinder that looked like a pen.

  “What’s that?” Jeff asked as his heart started to beat faster.

  “Just something to help you relax. So that I can take off your suit more easily. Don’t worry, you won’t be completely unconscious. You’ll still be able to enjoy the sex. I promise you: it will be the best sex you’ve ever had!” He cackled as he approached Jeff’s face with the syringe.

  Jeff looked down at his bound feet and then at the window, which was literally right in front of him. He had an idea. His suit was deactivated, so he couldn’t save himself, but if it worked, at least the demon would be destroyed once and for all. And he wouldn’t have to be the demon’s sexual plaything. He had only one chance. He was running out of time.

  Jeff stretched out and lifted his feet as far as he could. Then he writhed around until he was lying half on his side. The shackles cut into his skin and he cried out in pain. Then he tilted his feet and kicked.

  “What are you doing?” the demon asked reprovingly. “You’ll only hurt yourself and you won’t achieve anything.”

  Jeff kicked as hard as his bound legs would allow. The diamond tips of his boots struck the window full force.

  A loud crunching noise penetrated his ear, as if a hundred demons were dragging their fingers across slates. Then there was an almighty crash as the window shattered into thousands of pieces. A storm raged through the cabin and began to suck them out.

  Joanne’s body was ripped into the air. For a moment the demon tried to cling to Jeff’s seat, but the vacuum was too strong. With a silent scream, the demon was sucked out of the window into the eternity of space. It was the last thing Jeff saw before he fell unconscious.

  The first thing he felt was amazement that he had awoken.

  Shouldn’t he be dead? Suffocated and frozen by the vacuum of space?

  When he opened his eyes, he realized he was still sitting in the escape pod, tied to his chair.

  The window?

  There was no more window. A big, metal plate covered the hole where it had been.

  An emergency cover! />
  Like on the ships of the Imperial fleet—the aliens had also provided their windows with emergency covers that were activated automatically when the windows were damaged. Unlucky for the demon that it hadn’t closed faster.

  Jeff managed to wriggle his hands out of the shackles, which seemed to have been loosened slightly by the storm in the cabin. Once he had freed his hands, it was easy for him to remove the other restraints.

  Jeff stood up with a groan. His head was throbbing. He looked at the undamaged window to his right. Countless stars studded the sky.

  The demon was dead—and this time for good. For all eternity, he would drift through space in Joanne’s body as a dried, frozen corpse.

  Jeff stood up and searched the cabin for anything that might be useful. He found a packet of some green substance that might be alien food, but he didn’t feel like trying it. His suit would have to keep him alive; he reached down to the switch on his chest that activated the life-support system. A beep confirmed that it was on.

  Jeff went to the back of the cabin and stood in front of one of the open cryogenic pods. The bottom of the container was filled with a greenish liquid. If he got into it, he would sleep the whole way back to Earth. But he only toyed with the idea for a second. He couldn’t bring himself to lie down in one of those alien pods that had already caused so much misery and misfortune. He would manage to while away the hundred days back to Earth.

  Instead, he simply lay down on the floor next to the hatch. And suddenly he had a thought. What would happen when he left hyperspace in a few months and entered Earth’s Solar System? He no longer had Irons’ handheld with the authorization codes. In the worst-case scenario, the Orbital Space Guard would shoot him down as he approached Earth.

  Or had Jerry transferred the correct code to the onboard computer of the escape pod? He had no idea.

  Overwhelmed by tiredness, Jeff closed his eyes.

  He would find out soon enough.

  Also available by Phillip P. Peterson:

  TRANSPORT