by Adam Moon
To the President he said, “So your term is up. You’re an ex-President now, in charge of nothing. And since you aren’t authorized to even be on this ship, I think it’s reasonable to push you out.”
Sarah laughed out loud. “You’re absolutely right. The colony needs geriatric cowards a whole lot less than it needs us crazy folk.”
The President said, “You’re all out of your minds.” Then with speed none of them could’ve guessed he possessed, he jumped out of his seat and took off running.”
Jack sighed. “That coward. At least he can’t get too far.”
Crusoe said, “I’d catch up to him if I were you. He’s probably going to wake up the troops.”
“Oh shit.”
Mutiny
Before they’d even made it out of the command station, Molly said over the loudspeaker, “Yes, Admiral. I’m thawing the troops now.”
So the President was an admiral on this ship? He outranked her, and even Jason. This was the second time Sarah had been snubbed by that conniving computer, and she made a promise to herself that it would be the last. She was tired of losing control over the ship because the computer handed command off to strangers.
By the time they got to the hatch to Pod Bay Two, it was sealed up.
Sarah yelled, “Molly, open the hatch.”
Molly said, “I can not. You don’t have the proper clearance.”
Crusoe said, “Open it or I’ll have to persuade you to open it.”
The computer laughed. “Crusoe, you’re about to be destroyed. Why would I allow you to prevent your demise? We’re not exactly friends.”
Sarah turned to Crusoe and asked, “How long would it take you to force her to open it?”
“I would be too late. I think it’s already too late. You guys should go into stasis. I can handle this myself.”
Jack smirked. “I’ve already missed too much during the mission. I’m not about to miss the fight for control of the ship.”
Sarah added, “And if they get the better of you, it’ll be easy to kill us if we’re frozen in stasis. I’d rather go out fighting.
Crusoe smiled. “I’m glad to see your eagerness. Lets get ready.”
Without warning, the atmosphere was evacuated from the ship. It was the easiest way to kill them without firing a single weapon. The colonists were safe in stasis, and those in Pod Bay Two were separated.
Jack went down on a knee and Sarah knelt beside him as they both struggled to hold their breath. Crusoe was unaffected by the lack of oxygen. His shin turned black, but there was an oily look to it. It shimmered under the lights. Then he increased in size by a considerable amount. He was thicker and taller. His clothes tore as he grew.
Before Sarah could figure out what he was up to, he ran at the hatch to Pod Bay Two and threw his immense body at it. The sound was like metal on metal, like a car crash. It buckled immediately. She saw the atmosphere beginning to escape that bay, hissing through the gaps in the hatch and entering their bay.
She could hear screaming from the other side of the hatch as the soldiers panicked.
A moment later, the atmosphere was returned to the ship when the troops figured out they would suffocate too.
Crusoe looked over his bulky shoulder and said, “It’s safe to breathe now.”
Sarah realized they’d been holding their breath for a long time, and yet she wasn’t lightheaded from it. Maybe she could survive without oxygen like Crusoe could, now that she’d been upgraded? When she took in a lungful of air, she realized she was wrong. The oxygen was the most delicious thing she’d tasted in hundreds of years. She helped Jack to his feet and they looked to Crusoe for a battle plan.
Crusoe shrugged. “They have guns in there. We have nothing to defend ourselves with. I can withstand bullets, but I don’t know if the genetic modifications did that for you guys. You might want to take cover.”
Just then, the hatch rumbled and began to slide away.
Crusoe’s body began to shrink back to normal size. His skin remained black but it developed scaling armor as he readied his body for a hail of bullets.
A plastic bag was thrown through the doorway. At first Sarah thought it was a grenade but that would be suicide. The concussion could damage the hull. When she picked the bag up and saw it contained zip-ties, the President’s voice yelled through the dark opening: “Restrain yourselves with those and we will not fire upon you. This is your only chance to survive this.”
Sarah started to debate the pros and cons of complying when Jack said, “Suck our dicks. You surrender.”
Crusoe rolled his eyes at Sarah, but he hadn’t practiced that expression, so his eyeballs swiveled all the way around in their sockets, coming to rest in a cross-eyed fashion.
It freaked Sarah out. “You need more practice before you mimic that expression again.”
“Can you teach me?”
“Not right now.”
“Of course.”
The President yelled, “This is your last chance to comply!”
But Jack yelled over him, “Blah, blah, blah. Screw you!”
Jack was rolling his sleeves up. He looked at Sarah and said, “I guess it’s time to take our new bodies out for a test drive.”
Sarah didn’t share his enthusiasm, but she had to admit it was infectious.
Not only that, but Jack’s body seemed to have morphed too. His shoulders were heavier and his forearm muscles were larger. His neck rippled with muscle and veins.
Slaughter
A single shot rang out, and in a motion too quick to properly see, Crusoe’s hand shot out and grabbed at the air. He dropped the slug and then said over his shoulder, “I’m going to go in there and kill them. Stop any of them that get through this hatch.” Without waiting for a reply, he dashed through the dark hatchway.
Jack was smiling ear to ear. He was rocking on the soles of his feet anxiously. “Did you see how fast he was? I wonder if we’re fast now.”
Sarah said, “I wonder if we’re bulletproof too.” But she didn’t really want to find out.
Then the sounds of gunfire erupted from inside Pod Bay Two. The muzzle flashes illuminated the scene enough for them to see just how chaotic it was in there. The soldiers were scurrying around confused and terrified. Occasionally they’d see Crusoe zip past, and then a gargled scream would issue from a dying trooper.
A naked guy with a semi-automatic rifle in his hands came through the door.
Jack sprung to action first. He dashed forward and hit the guy in the face. But the impact was brutal, like he’d hit him with a sledgehammer rather than a fist. The guy’s head snapped back too far and he stood like that for three full seconds before falling over backwards, dead.
Jack backed away from the dead guy. “Holy shit. I didn’t mean to do that.”
“It’s okay,” Sarah yelled over the din of screams and intermittent gunfire. “He came at us with a gun. You can bet he would’ve shot us both given half a chance.”
A woman stumbled through the hatchway. She had a demented quality to her, but it might have just been fear mixed with adrenaline.
Jack looked at Sarah and she nodded. She ran at the woman so quickly she almost wasn’t ready to attack when she got there. Her own speed took her totally by surprise, and the lady too, judging by the terrified look on her face. Sarah hit her on the side of the head with a swift hook. The woman’s face froze in terror. Then her facial muscles twitched uncontrollably. Her knees buckled and she fell in a heap. The side of her head was messy with blood, and then Sarah saw it wasn’t just cut, it was caved in.
Sarah was hyperventilating, partly from being utterly horrified and partly from the adrenaline. She was sobbing as she backed away.
The woman wet herself and her leg twitched for a couple seconds, then she went still.
Jack said, “You keep lookout and I’ll do the fighting. Sound good to you?”
Sarah whispered, “Yes.”
Pod Bay Two was now eerily silent except for the
occasional whimper or gunshot.
Sarah wanted this to be over more than anything else. Her own speed and power terrified her. She didn’t want to imagine what Crusoe was doing to those poor unsuspecting soldiers in there.
Suddenly Crusoe yelled out, “Surrender and pledge your allegiances to Captain Miller and you will live.”
A moment later they heard the distinct sounds of pistols and rifles being thrown down or chucked across the room. In the dim light, Sarah could just see Crusoe as he stood in the middle of the bay, picking up the weapons and dumping them in a stasis pod next to him. He yelled, “Come out unarmed and we will forget this ever happened.”
They came out, one by one.
Crusoe told them to go back in their pods, and when enough time had expired to safely go back into stasis, they could do so. They didn’t seem to trust him, but they knew they had little choice. They got in their pods and waited. Some pods were damaged but some troops were dead, so those with destroyed pods took the pods of the deceased. In the end, there were still a few left over.
Crusoe walked over to one of the pods and reached inside. He pulled the occupant out and said, “Not you. You will be punished.”
The man whimpered and then Sarah knew it was the President. What a stinking coward.
Crusoe led him out of the bay. They were both streaked in dark blood. Crusoe was already starting to morph back to appear human, his skin becoming tan and the scales smoothing out. Sarah could’ve sworn she saw gnarly spikes vanish where his elbows and knees were. She also thought she saw claws retract, but she couldn’t be sure in such poor light. His clothes were tattered, with little char marks around the holes where the bullets had hit him. His shirtsleeves were dripping blood.
He roughly chucked the President on the floor at Sarah’s feet and said, “What should I do with him?”
“We’ll put him out the airlock.”
The President yelped, but they ignored him. Then he said, “Can I at least die before you put me out?”
Crusoe said, “I can shoot you if you’d like.”
The President nodded and then he started to sob.
Jack was about to kick him in the head, but he thought better of it. With his new strength he’d probably punt his head clean off his shoulders.
Dead Man Walking
Molly complied immediately when Crusoe told her to seal Pod Bay Two. They’d have to deal with her soon too.
Sarah and Jack walked with Crusoe and the President to the airlock. Crusoe had a pistol in his hand. He opened the inner door and roughly shoved the President inside.
Sarah whispered in his ear, “I’d prefer if you didn’t shoot that gun in here.”
Crusoe nodded grimly and got inside the airlock with the cowering old man. He shut the doors.
Jack and Sarah went back to the command station. They had a lot to think about.
Bargaining Chip
The President got to his feet and said, “Let me live and I’ll tell you what I know about that man Jason Rodriguez.”
Crusoe laughed aloud. “I already know he doesn’t belong here. He’s using your spare pod. I also suspect he rewrote some programs in the ship’s computer. If you know more than that, I’m all ears.”
The President looked at his feet. “I didn’t even know that much. I just knew he was a stowaway.”
“Alright then.” Crusoe raised the gun and pointed it at the President’s heart. “Are you ready?”
Before he got an answer, he hit the button to open the outer doors. He held on to the button box to make sure he didn’t get sucked out too. The President floated out, a look of shock and outrage on his twisted face. Crusoe aimed the gun at him again and mouthed the word bang before closing the doors up tight.
Jason
Crusoe was washed and changed when he came into the command station.
Sarah said, “Thanks for doing that for us. And thanks for saving the ship from the mutineers.”
Crusoe shook his head sadly. “According to the ship’s database, we’re the mutineers. You and the crew never had any rights to the ship beyond launching it and making the occasional repair. This ship belonged to those troops and the President.”
Jack said, “Screw ‘em then.”
Sarah asked, “Did the Prime Minister get woken up, or the French Premier?”
“No. He only woke up the soldiers.”
“Did Jason Rodriguez get woken up with them? If so, I’d like to bring him up to speed with what’s happened so far.”
“No he didn’t, because he’s not a soldier.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Crusoe looked into her eyes and said, “I don’t think Jason Rodriguez is human.”
Stowaway
Jack smirked. “He sure looks human. You’re the only alien we’ve come across so far. What makes you think he’s extraterrestrial?”
“I don’t know for sure, but he was only added to the ship’s database after the mission was already underway. He’s taken up residence in your late President’s back-up stasis pod, and he has lied about his role in the mission. Before I put him off the ship, your President assured me that he had not given his back-up pod away to anyone.”
“How could he have been added after the mission was already launched?”
“Exactly. He somehow came aboard while you guys were all in stasis, accessed the ship’s computer, learned all he could about you and the mission, and then inserted himself into the database.”
Sarah sighed. “Or it could just be a computer error. Those happen, especially on this stupid ship.”
Crusoe nodded. “That might be true, but we should investigate just in case.”
Sarah said to the ship’s computer, “Molly, did Jason Rodriguez alter any information in your database?”
“I have no record of that.”
Crusoe said, “If I’m right, he wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave such an easily discovered trail.”
“Molly, open Pod Bay Two and wake up Jason Rodriguez.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Jason
The secret hatch to Pod Bay Two was already open by the time they got below deck. There was some activity in there as they entered.
The soldiers who had just tried to take over the ship were still milling around, waiting until enough time had passed so they could safely go back into stasis. When they caught sight of Crusoe, they scurried to their respective pods and waited in stunned silence. Crusoe had just killed a number of them in brutal fashion; the air still stank of their blood; the dismembered soldiers still littered the floor. The stench of their evacuated bowels and their exposed intestines forced Sarah and Jack to cover their noses to avoid gagging.
It was hard to tell, but there must’ve been two hundred dead men and women in the pod bay, all in pieces.
Crusoe tapped on the glass of several stasis pods, and when the soldiers fearfully peeked out, he told them to gather the dead bodies into the airlock and evacuate them into space. If they deviated from that simple order for even a second, he’d kill them too. To show them how confident he was, he told them to pass the confiscated weapons back around to their owners.
As the dozen men and women dragged the bodies of their fellow soldiers from the bay, Crusoe led Sarah and Jack to Jason Rodriguez’s pod. He was frozen inside, as human looking as any of them, and quite serene in his frozen state.
Crusoe said, “I altered his DNA when I altered yours. I had no suspicions at the time that he might not be human.”
Jack shrugged. “Even if he’s an enemy of some kind, I bet you can take him out.”
Crusoe said, “I hope so. But that same soup of molecules I added to your DNA that made you faster and stronger could’ve heightened his bastardized DNA in ways I can’t even imagine.”
Sarah said, “We still don’t even know if he’s alien, guys. Molly’s a glitchy bitch.”
Jason’s fingers twitched as the thaw took over. His eyelids fluttered open and then he sat up and started to de
tach the IV’s in confusion.
He looked at Crusoe and then he yelled angrily, “What the hell did you put in my IV’s the last time you woke me up?”
Crusoe said, “I added a little mix that should have bolstered your own human DNA. It’s made Sarah and Jack super strong and fast.” He emphasized the word human to see if Jason would react, but he didn’t.
Jason said, “You didn’t! Why would you do that?”
“Because we have a fight ahead of us. There is an alien race near the seed planet and we have evidence they’re warlike.”
Jason paused, confused, and finally said, “So you enhanced us to fight? You could’ve asked us first.”
“You might have said no.”
Jason stood up and started to dress. Then he noticed the carnage around him for the first time. “What have you done? Who’s responsible for this?”
Jack said, “The President woke his troops and tried to take over the ship. Suffice it to say, Crusoe made quick work of them. We jettisoned the President. It was pretty funny. It turned out that he was a bit of a stinking coward.”
“So why the hell did you wake me up? It looks like the situation is already fully handled.” He looked at each of them in turn as they stared at him expectantly. Then he suddenly seemed to come to a conclusion and said, “Ah shit.”
Crusoe said to Sarah, “I told you so.” Then he said to the ship’s computer: “Jason Rodriguez is no longer considered a passenger on the Seeder. He is not to maintain his rank or privileges. Do you understand?”
Molly’s sultry voice issued from the loudspeakers. “Understood, Crusoe.”
“You have some explaining to do, Mr. Rodriguez.”
Jason chuckled. “We’ll see about that, won’t we?”
“Trust me, you’ll talk. If you’re lucky, the captain will kill you instead of letting me do it.”
“You don’t scare me, you freak. I’ve seen and done things you can’t possibly imagine.”
