Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet

by Matthew Kadish

  “Ain’t got nothin’ on ‘em worth taking anyway,” said Faruuz. “Don’t even have their weapons.”

  “Why aren’t they rock?” asked Jack.

  The group looked at him. “What?” asked Ganix.

  “The zombies, when they died they turned into rock,” said Jack. “So why are they still here?”

  “’Cause they weren’t zombies,” replied Rodham. “They died like soldiers.”

  “Yeah, but that doesn’t make any sense. Why turn some dead bodies into rock and not others?” asked Jack.

  “We’ve found some animal carcasses and a few skeletons around this hole,” muttered Scallywag. “Maybe ya only get rocked if ya lose yer soul first.”

  “What’s it matter?” grumbled Faruuz. “Dead is dead. Who cares if they’re rock or not?”

  “Jack,” asked Ganix. “Are we any closer to this exit of yours?”

  “About another mile I’d guess,” replied Jack. “It’s hard to tell.”

  Ganix nodded. “Sergeant, take point with the Earthman,” he said. “Scallywag, would you and your companion care to join me in the rearguard?”

  “Like yer giving us a choice?” replied Scallywag.

  “I’ll take that as a ‘yes,’ ” said Ganix. “Let’s get moving. The sooner we’re out of here, the better for everyone.”

  Scallywag gave Rodham the evil eye before following Ganix to the back of the convoy. Jack watched him go, wondering why Ganix suddenly wanted to switch things up. Maybe the Major thought he’d rather have his own men close to Jack now that they were closing in on the exit? It wouldn’t surprise him if Ganix was worried Scallywag and Faruuz would try to leave them behind in the Pit while they escaped, even though Jack was sure they wouldn’t do something like that. (Well, not Scallywag anyway.)

  Grohm started walking, with Rodham falling in a few paces behind and Jack close by. Once the convoy was moving again, Jack looked up at Rodham.

  “Can I ask you a question, Sergeant?” asked Jack.

  “What is it?” the large man replied.

  “Why do you hate Scallywag so much? I mean, he’s in the same boat as all of us, you know.”

  Rodham scowled. “Be different if he were a Blue or a Yellow maybe,” the Sergeant grumbled. “But if there’s one thing you gotta learn, kid, it’s that you can never trust a Red, even if it seems like they’re on your side; they’ll just as quickly stab you in the back if you’re not careful.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Jack. “Blue or Yellow?”

  Rodham raised an eyebrow. “You mean to tell me your psychic spaceship can show you a way out of here, but it can’t give you a basic lesson on Visini?”

  “Must have forgot to ask it,” muttered Jack, more than a little annoyed at Rodham’s constant verbal jabs.

  “Right,” said Rodham. “All you ever need to know about a Visini you can tell from the color of his skin. Purples are supposed to be the best of their race. They’re their leaders, supposedly all smart, and honest, and courageous, and whatnot. Blues are the upper crust - trustworthy, noble, dependable. You can always trust a Blue to keep his word. Yellows, they’re basically followers, you know. Do what they’re told, not that ambitious or smart for that matter. But Reds, well, they are the scum of the race… the thieves, the murderers, the liars… any low-life character trait you can think of, the Red’s usually got it.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Jack. “You mean just because Scallywag was born with red skin, he’s instantly a bad person?”

  Rodham laughed derisively. “Visini aren’t born with their colors, boy,” he said. “They all come out as Yellows at first. But their skin, it changes based on the kinds of people they are. If they’re good, they turn Blue or Purple. If they’re nothing special, they stay Yellow. If they’re scum, they turn Red. That pirate friend of yours is crimson because somewhere along the line, he chose to be a dirtbag. His skin just reflects what’s on the inside, and let me tell you – what’s in there ain’t no good.”

  “He seems okay to me,” said Jack.

  “That’s just because he needs us to survive,” replied Rodham. “The second he doesn’t, he won’t hesitate to blast you away if he feels like it.”

  “I don’t believe that,” said Jack. “He tried to help Faruuz escape from prison, and he saved my life during the zombie attack. He didn’t have to do any of that.”

  “Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t,” said Rodham. “With a Red, you never know what his motivation is until you pull the knife out of your back.”

  “What if he’s trying to change?” asked Jack. “What if he’s trying to be a good guy? Can Visini do that?”

  “Change his color?” snorted Rodham. “Could be. Though I learned a long time ago that Visini don’t tend to change their skin. And if they do, it’s very rare.”

  “But possible?” asked Jack.

  Rodham shrugged. “Maybe,” he replied. “But are you willing to bet your life on that?”

  Jack glanced behind him and caught a glimpse of Scallywag in the rear with Faruuz, strutting along while keeping a watchful eye out in the darkness. From where Jack was, Scallywag looked even more devil-like in the illumination of the torches than he ever had before, and it sent an uneasy feeling down Jack’s spine.

  “Didn’t think so,” said Rodham, reading the uncertainty on Jack’s face. “I don’t care what color they may be, the Visini are not to be trusted. My father died fighting the Visini in the Great Border War when their empire decided it wanted to expand, despite all the treaties they had signed. And ever since the fall of Regalus Prime, the whole kitten race has been chomping at the bit to make new incursions into Regal space, never mind that millions of us were brutally slaughtered by the Deathlords.”

  Rodham spat on the ground. “Whole universe would be better off without them, if you ask me,” he grunted.

  I didn’t ask you, thought Jack. Something about Rodham reminded Jack of all the jock-meatheads he had known in school. But then again he knew very little about all the alien races and what they meant to each other. For all Jack knew, Rodham could be exactly right about Scallywag and his species. But despite it all, being the lone survivor of his own species made the idea of genocide rather tough for Jack to stomach at the moment.

  Jack picked up his pace and moved away from Rodham to walk beside Grohm. Maybe he wasn’t the most talkative alien Jack had ever met, but after his conversation with the Sergeant, he was glad for any change of pace the Rognok could offer.

  “S’up, big guy?” asked Jack.

  Grohm’s red-and-black eyes glanced down at Jack briefly, before looking back out into the darkness. At least Jack felt that glance meant the massive alien knew he was there and wouldn’t accidentally step on him or something.

  “So how are things with you? Can you see okay without a torch?”

  “Grohm see fine,” the Rognok replied.

  “Cool,” said Jack. “I wish I could see in the dark.”

  Grohm snorted.

  “So what’s your story?” Jack asked. “Scallywag said you were here before anyone. How’d you get captured?”

  Grohm didn’t answer.

  “Hey, you don’t want to talk about it, that’s cool,” said Jack. “I got teleported aboard after getting shot by a Dark Soldier. Then, some jack-hole tossed me on a teleporter and sent me here. He was a total jerk about it, too. Say, you don’t happen to know what ‘petulant’ means, do ya?”

  Grohm grunted.

  “Yeah, me neither,” replied Jack. “I’m sure he meant it as an insult, though. It’s bad enough they gotta go and blow up my whole planet, but then they gotta insult me to my face.”

  “Deathlords blow up Grohm’s planet,” Grohm replied.

  “Yeah, I heard,” said Jack. “Sorry about that. Did any of your people survive?”

  “Grohm not know,” said the Rognok.

  “Well, I’m sure there are more of your people out there than there are of mine,” said Jack. “I think I’m the only
person from Earth left. In fact, I’m sure of it.”

  Saying that out loud made Jack feel sad. Thoughts of his mom and his friends popped into his head, along with the realization that they were gone, and he wouldn’t get to see them again.

  Grohm looked down at Jack and grimaced at his expression. “Weakness,” the large Rognok rumbled.

  Jack looked up at Grohm and blinked. “Huh?”

  “Memories make Earthman weak,” said Grohm. “Earthman must be strong. Strong survive.”

  “I’m not weak,” said Jack. “I’m just sad, is all.”

  “Sadness is weakness,” replied Grohm.

  “Just because I’m sad doesn’t mean I’m weak,” protested Jack. “It’s okay to be sad if something bad happens to you. Sometimes you need to be sad in order to be happy again.”

  Grohm snorted.

  “Do Rognok’s have feelings?” Jack asked. “Do you ever feel happy? Or excited?”

  “Grohm not weak,” Grohm replied.

  “So it’s even weak to feel good?” asked Jack.

  “Emotions are bad,” said Grohm. “Emotions cloud judgment. Emotions allow mistakes. Emotions lead to death. Only strength is good. Only strong survive.”

  “So what’s it mean to be strong?” Jack asked.

  “It means you kill,” chimed in Rodham, who’d been eavesdropping in on the conversation. “That’s what Rognok’s do, kid. They fight and they kill. To them, being strong just means you’re the last one standing.”

  Jack glanced up at Grohm, who made no attempt to reply to Rodham. The large alien lumbered onward in silence, but to Jack, it seemed as though he were walking heavier than he had been before, almost like he really was feeling sad, and his words were more for his own benefit than they were for Jack’s. In Jack’s mind, how could one NOT feel sad, or angry, or scared after losing his entire planet? Even Rognoks had to have friends and family, didn’t they?

  “Tell you what, big guy,” said Jack. “You be strong. I’ll be sad enough for the both of us.”

  Grohm glanced down at Jack again, and this time Jack thought he caught a faint glimmer of surprise on the Rognok’s face. But Grohm said nothing and continued to lead the large convoy through the darkness of the Pit with Jack by his side. For some reason, one that Jack couldn’t quite explain, he felt like he and the hulking alien had bonded somehow. Of course, that could have been wishful thinking as far as Jack was concerned. It was hard to tell what, if anything, Grohm felt.

  The convoy marched onward, stopping sporadically either for short breaks or because of a sound that may have heralded a possible attack. The terrain was getting harder to traverse the farther they went, with jagged and sharp rocks jutting up from uneven ground, which only served to slow their journey. And though Jack knew where he had to go, his mental map was pretty fuzzy about the details. More often than not, the group found itself having to march around obstacles, such as rock outcroppings or other debris, which made their route to the exit even longer than it already was.

  But despite all the twists and turns their journey took, they still moved forward toward their destination… until they came to what appeared to be a complete dead end.

  Jack looked at the massive wall of rock in front of them confused. He knew the exit was just a little farther, but it was obvious there was no way around the barrier that loomed before him. He was still pondering his mental map when Ganix approached.

  “I’ve asked Scallywag and Faruuz to backtrack and scout for an alternate route,” the Major said. “Are you sure we’re going in the right direction?”

  “Yeah,” said Jack. “I’m positive it’s this way.”

  “But you weren’t sure about the solid wall of rock blocking the path?” grumbled Rodham.

  “Okay, so the details are a little fuzzy. Give me a break,” said Jack. “The next time we gotta get out of a Death Cave, you can be the one with the psychic map.”

  Rodham grimaced at Jack as Scallywag came running up to the group.

  “That didn’t take long,” commented Ganix.

  “We found another way around,” said Scallywag. “But I don’t think yer gonna like it, mate.”

  Ganix’s face darkened. “Lead the way,” he said.

  Jack, Ganix, and Rodham followed Scallywag as he moved back through the convoy and through a few narrow rock ways until they reached a hill that sloped sharply upward. Faruuz was perched at the top, lying with his belly flat against the ground, peering up over the crest of the hill as a ghostly white light emanated from behind it.

  The group cautiously climbed up the uneven slope, making sure to avoid falling backward and possibly breaking their necks. After what seemed like a rather arduous (but short) climb, Jack reached the top and peeked his head over the hill. What he saw made his breath catch in his throat and his heart freeze in his chest.

  The Pit’s pillar of light swirled chaotically, more haunting, turbulent, and massive than anything he’d ever seen before – like the ghost of the most destructive tornado imaginable. It was miles away, but it was closer than it had ever appeared before. Surrounding the pillar, and stretching out for miles around it – as far as its illumination would allow – was a sea of zombies.

  Jack watched the zombies as they all stood, huddled together like the crowd of a massive concert packed into a stadium that was too small to contain it. The zombies swayed as they attempted to move, causing the entire group to appear as though they were merely tiny waves in a vast ocean.

  Some of the zombies moaned, some howled, and some screamed – their voices mixing and mingling as they erupted into the air and reverberated off the black stone walls.

  Occasionally fights would break out but were quickly settled by one zombie tearing the other one to bits. Sporadically, ghostly entities would rise out of the crowd and float toward the pillar of light, signaling yet another zombie death.

  Jack peered further over the edge, his eyes following the ocean of zombies downward. He was high up, peeking out from an opening in the cave wall, and could see that the zombies even came up to its base at the ground below. They were mixes of various beings he’d never seen before, and they all had cloudy white eyes and black bile seeping from their mouths. Those who had hair looked mangy and matted. Some had their skin torn and bloodied. And the smell of rot and decay was powerful enough to reach Jack, even as high up as he was.

  “Great Observer,” breathed Ganix as he looked out over the same ocean of terror Jack did. Jack glanced at the Major and saw him wide-eyed with concern. Even Rodham, who usually showed no expression outside of “grumpy,” looked taken aback.

  “There must be millions of them,” complained Rodham.

  “I’d estimate approximately 600,000, to be more accurate,” came a voice.

  The group turned to see Heckubus there, looking out over the hill with them.

  “Where the blazes did you come from?” grumbled Scallywag.

  “I’m quite an excellent lurker,” replied the robot. “Regardless, I’ve been taking various survey measurements on our travels, and it would appear we are closer to that pillar of energy than we ever have been before. It would make sense that those who have succumbed to zombification would be attracted to it.”

  “Like moths to a flame,” said Ganix.

  “Precisely,” replied Heckubus.

  “But, how are there so many?” asked Rodham. “I mean, they’ve got how many ships in their fleet? Hundreds? If each one has a Pit like this, how could there be so many people missing and no one knows about it?”

  “Either they are extremely efficient at abducting their victims,” said Heckubus, “or they’ve been doing this a very, very long time.”

  “I don’t even recognize half these species,” said Ganix.

  “Maybe the Deathlords have been on a rampage longer than we thought,” said Scallywag. “Other systems, other galaxies beyond known space… who knows how many planets the buggers sacked before gettin’ to our little neck o’ the universe.”

&
nbsp; “All the more reason to get out of here,” said Ganix. “You said you found a way around?”

  “Eyes to the left,” said Scallywag, pointing the way. Jack looked over and saw a small ledge winding around the side of the cave wall. It looked to be about three feet in width and traveled into the distance until it curved out of sight from their position.

  “You gotta be kittening me,” sneered Rodham.

  “That’s wha’ I said,” grumbled Faruuz.

  “That ain’t the worst o’ it,” said Scallywag. “As far as I can tell, there ain’t no way of knowing what’s over there. Could be another dead end.”

  “It’s not,” replied Jack. “That’s where the exit is.”

  The group looked at Jack in unison. “You sure?” asked Ganix, a glimmer of hope in his voice.

  “Well…” said Jack checking his mental map again. “When I say that’s where the exit is, that’s not exactly what I mean…”

  “Out with it, lad,” said Scallywag.

  “You see that area up there about mid-way through the ledge?” asked Jack.

  The group looked over to the narrow path’s mid-point where it wound its way across the cave wall. Sure enough, as their eyes followed it upward, there appeared to be a recess high above it where the rock almost completely receded.

  “Yeah, that’s where the exit is,” said Jack.

  “Up there?” whined Faruuz.

  “How are we supposed to get all the way up there?” asked Rodham. “That’s a sheer vertical wall.”

  “We’ll have to climb,” said Ganix.

  “Without rope or equipment?” responded Rodham. “That’s suicide.”

  “If you have another suggestion, Sergeant, I am open to hearing it,” replied Ganix. That shut Rodham up rather quickly.

  “That’s gonna be a difficult climb,” said Scallywag.

  “You have no concept of how true that statement actually is, you middling jackenape,” said Heckubus. “Need I remind anyone of the danger below us?”

  “We get it; we’ll fall into a sea of zombies,” said Scallywag. “Thanks for pointing out the obvious.”