by E. D. Cask
He frowned and closed the journal. Sleep sack, extra foil blanket, emergency snacks, flint, whistle with matches in it, pencil, postcards, beanie… There was nothing new and nothing that he could think of that was missing. He packed it all back in and shouldered the pack again.
Looking around one last time, he sighed, put his head down and started trudging in the same direction. He tried to remember other times he had been lost. In the last year, he’d grown a lot. He had been through some harrowing experiences for a kid from the suburbs. The night hiding in a highway culvert from a fat pervert who had offered him a ride; stuck in between towns with no rides and not enough water for a long, hot day in Texas. This wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to him. He was still able to move and he had his pack.
Grinning, he yelled into the cold air, “You can’t get me down. I will survive.” He started singing a silly rendition of ‘Oh, what a beautiful afternoon.’ That cheered him up for a bit. But when he stopped singing, it dawned on him how quiet it was. He looked up into the sky; no contrails. That was weird.
He was getting near some trees, but they looked stunted and twisted, compared to what he had remembered. As he neared the copse of trees, he saw something in his peripheral vision and ducked. A rock sailed over his head.
He whirled around, but didn’t see anyone.
“Hello? I’m not going to hurt you. Who are you?”
He saw some eyes peeking over a mound off to the left. Then some scrabbling came from behind him, something hit his head and everything turned white and then black.
Josh opened his eyes to a soft glow of firelight. It was warmer and felt good. He groaned. His head was throbbing. He was aware of a hand on his forehead. There was an old woman with no teeth grinning at him. She poked him a few times and started feeling his clothes and jabbering something.
A man in very strange clothes came up behind her and asked a question. She answered. But he didn’t understand what they were saying. He grimaced and tried to rub his ears, but his right hand was tied down. He panicked and started pulling at it. The woman shushed him and pushed on his chest, trying to calm him down. He grabbed her arm with his left hand. She tried to pull back in alarm and spoke again. The other man grabbed his left arm and wrenched Josh’s hand away. Then they both stepped back and watched him.
Feeling even more panicky, Josh tried to get his hand loose, but it was tied to the bed. Using his left hand he tried to untie the knot It wasn’t really a knot. It seemed to be fused plastic or some kind of weird zip tie.
“Why am I tied up here? What do you want?” he shouted at them.
The man said something and the woman nodded her head and they left the hut. He looked around desperately. He noticed his pack in the opposite corner. Maybe he could move the bed over there and get his knife. Then he remembered his pocket knife and reached over with his left hand into his right pocket. They hadn’t found it! He pulled it out, opened it and started sawing on the plastic. It was extremely hard. His knife wasn’t making a dent in it. He tried using the knife as a lever to put more force into it, but his hand slipped and the blade snapped.
The bed was up against a crude log wall. He tried pushing the bed away. It didn’t budge. Frustrated, he looked around for some other way to get out. He was in a kind of log lean-to. The bed he was on was more of a pallet on the floor. Was he in a wilderness shelter? It didn’t look like ones he had used before. The side and roof were covered with some type of plastic sacking. Maybe these were homeless people who had built something in the woods? But why was he tied up? He shouted some more, hoping that someone else would hear him.
A different, older man poked his head in the doorway. He made calming motions and came closer.
“Pleees. Be easssy,” he said with a strong accent. “We not hurt, but we keep. Some will come to take. Soon?” He turned to go.
Josh tried to stop him, “Why am I tied up? Where am I?”
The man held up a hand, “Soon.” He left.
Josh slammed his free hand on the bedding. This was crazy. Who were these people? Was he in the States anymore? He tried to think of something else he could do and searched for anything in his pockets.
He heard a whining, pulsing noise coming from a distance. Then some shouts from people all around the shelter. Two larger men came in and grabbed him and then the old woman entered and did something to the plastic tie that released it. The men pulled him up and half dragged him out of the shelter. He saw a group of crude shelters all around. Almost a small village, but like nothing he had ever seen before. He tried to get out of the grasp of the men, but one of them cuffed him on the head and they held him tighter.
They were taking him to a clearing. He saw the source of the loud noise and lost control of his legs. It was a flying saucer coming in for a landing in the clearing.
CHAPTER FOUR
Aliens?
A burst of adrenaline rushed through Josh’s body. He fought against the men and got one arm free. He turned and began hitting the man on his left, trying to get him to release his hand. A punch to his lower back stopped him and the other man wrapped his arms around him and threw him to the ground. As he groaned and tried to get up, a foot pressed down on his neck as a warning.
Helpless, he opened his eyes and saw the saucer landing. It didn’t touch the ground, but hovered there, an opening appearing in the side. A figure appeared in the opening. Josh felt like he was in a sci-fi movie. Little and gray with a big head, the figure was wearing a gray coverall and carrying something in its hand. The foot on his neck pushed down harder. The creature walked over to him and spoke. Josh didn’t understand a word and couldn’t even recognize the language. The alien leaned over with the device and placed it behind Josh’s ear. A blinding pain shot through him and Josh cried out. The headache from earlier was overpowered by this intense stabbing in his head. The foot moved off of his neck, but Josh was in too much pain to do anything about it. He couldn’t move. He watched helplessly as the alien gestured to the men and then turned his head to the saucer. A pallet of boxes floated out of the opening. Josh could hear cries of pleasure from the men and others nearby. They rushed forward and started unloading the pallet.
The alien looked at Josh and said, “Stand.”
Josh gingerly touched the area behind his ear, but felt no blood. He wiped the tears from his eyes and slowly stood. He towered over the alien by two feet, at least. He looked around. Everyone was busy with the supplies. He got ready to bolt, when the alien spoke again.
“Do not run. I have implanted you with a kryzhnuku. If you do not obey, I will punish you. Do you understand?”
Josh felt his head again. The alien had put something in his head? Like a shock collar?
“Where am I?” he asked.
“Answers later. Get on ship.”
Josh started toward the ship. He remembered his pack. He turned to get it and a wave of nausea overcame him.
The alien spoke, “This is easy pain. If you do not obey, worse pain. Understand?”
“I was just going to get my pack. It has my things, okay?”
“We will provide you with supplies.”
“But these are my personal things,” Josh said, almost pleading.
The alien stared at him, “You function more efficiently with personal things?”
Josh thought about it, “Yes, absolutely.”
The alien turned to one of the men. “Go, retrieve the pack. Now.”
The man dropped what he was carrying and rushed off. He came back in seconds with Josh’s pack and thrust it into Josh’s hands. Then he retrieved the box and hurried away.
“Now, enter the ship.”
Josh pulled the pack on and walked up the ramp into the ship. It was empty inside. He had expected a bank of monitors and controls, but instead saw a blank wall all the way around.
“Sit,” the alien said and walked over to the opposite side.
The opening closed and Josh looked around. It didn’t seem to make any dif
ference, so he shrugged and sat down. Immediately a harness formed around him. He jumped and tried to get it off, but it wouldn’t move. A pillar rose out of the floor behind the alien and a harness wrapped around him. The alien pressed the device he had been carrying into the side of the pillar and it disappeared. Then he waved his hands and the ship began moving.
Curiosity overcame his fear and Josh asked, “Where are we going?”
The alien glanced at him and a hologram appeared in front of Josh. It seemed to be showing the earth or at least a planet that looked a lot like earth. He couldn’t see any civilization. It all just looked like wilderness.
“Where am I?” Josh said, almost to himself. After months of being on his own, he had developed a habit of talking to himself. He was surprised when the alien answered.
“You are on my ship in the Sol planetary system over Urth. You have been brought to our time to be trained for combat. You will be great warrior for our race.”
Our time; the future? It made sense in a way.
“What year is it?” Josh asked in a daze.
“In your time-line, we are at Sol year 6866.”
“Whoa. Cool.” Josh couldn’t help it. He had been coshed, tied up, beaten up and abducted, but this was amazing. He had read a lot of sci-fi in high school and played the video games, but never thought that he would be in one. So this seemed like the Last Starfighter and Ender’s Game and Galaga all combined. He grinned.
The alien peered at him closely. “You accept my words calmly. Good. You will be great warrior for us.”
The hologram in front of Josh turned to space and it looked like they were heading for the moon. It looked different, too, with structures on it. As it got closer, Josh could see domes dotting the surface. The ship neared a dome, which split open, and they landed. The hologram disappeared and, after a slight delay, the opening in the side of the ship opened. The harness released him and vanished as did the pillar that the alien was attached to.
“Come,” the alien said.
Josh grabbed his pack and tried to follow. He pushed off too hard and fell. Gravity was really low here. He tried an experimental jump and launched himself.
The alien frowned at him, “Please do not do this. It is not safe. There will be higher gravity in the tunnels.”
Josh grinned and gave a few skips up into the air. They were in a large hangar that smelled like rain. He tried to look around, but the alien kept hurrying him forward. There were several other saucer ships scattered around the floor as well as many things that Josh couldn’t identify. They walked over to a sled that was hovering over the floor. When they sat down, harnesses appeared again. This time Josh just accepted it. The sled took off down a dark tunnel, like a small subway. They passed several dimly lit openings branching off the tunnel they were on. When the sled stopped, the alien got out and gestured to Josh. The platform opened into a long hallway with openings and some doors. The alien led him to a larger opening with a number over it. “You stay here. Another will come and teach you. Wait.” Then the alien left Josh standing there.
He looked around. Almost everything was gray; not very cheery. It looked like a cafeteria. There were benches and tables that came out of the floor, like they were set in the cement or whatever the stone material was. He walked over to the wall. There were shelves and openings and some buttons. He started poking around, almost ready to start pushing buttons when he heard a tiny sound behind him. He turned. An alien stood there looking at him.
“Wow. You snuck up on me,” Josh said, embarrassed. “Who are you?”
The alien regarded him calmly. “I am Ku. Your designation?”
Josh thought for a second. “Josh. Are we actually inside the moon?”
“Yes.” Taking him over to another wall, Ku pressed his hand against it. A small door appeared out of nowhere revealing an open area in the wall.
“You may keep your sack here.”
“Do you have locks for these things?”
“It will open with your DNA code.” Ku proceeded to have Josh place his hand against the door to shut it. It disappeared without a trace.
Josh nodded, “Cool. Am I the only one around here?”
“If you are cold, the suits we provide with regulate your temperature.”
“That wasn’t my question. Oh, I get it.” The translator thing had translated his slang as a temperature. He would have to remember that.
Ku opened another locker and pulled out a gray overall similar to the one he was wearing. He instructed Josh to change. Josh pulled off his clothes and put the coverall on. It was too large until Ku pulled a few tabs that changed the size. The fabric felt warm and cool all at the same time. It was soft, but tough. Ku also gave Josh some slippers that were similar. Then he had Josh put his clothes back in his locker. It took Josh a few tries to find the locker. He ran his hand over the wall until he saw an amber glow and the door opened.
Ku led Josh to a room with only one small bench. “You may ask Duumai any question and it will determine what you may know.”
“Who is Duumai?”
“Our AI will answer that.”
“You call your computer, Duumai?”
That is what they designate me, young one.
Josh jumped. The voice seemed to be in his head. Ku nodded and walked out. The door closed.
“Why?” Josh grinned, feeling like a four year old.
Logic is the pinnacle of their aim. Duumai means binary. They believe that all logic should come down to a binary choice. They have worked to remove all else from their bodies and brains.
“When did they invade the solar system?”
They were always here.
“Cool, so the sci-fi stories were true, they were hiding on the moon or using stealth tech all that time.”
No, young one, the ones you think of as aliens are human.
Josh spun around looking for the voice. “No, way. That can’t be true.”
Why not?
“They look completely different.”
As I said, they removed all things that did not move them toward the logical end, including sexual organs and adrenal glands, anything that kept them from being logical.
“That’s sick.” Josh sat on the bench.
No, they are healthy. What do you want me to show you?
“How can I get back to my time?”
That is beyond your classification. I may only show you things that will help you in our goal.
“Fine, we’ll talk about that later.” Even Josh knew better than to argue with a computer. “What happened to the earth? Was there a nuclear holocaust that wiped out all the cities?”
No, the main reason that Urth became uninhabitable was the centuries of polar shift and geomagnetic cataclysms.
The AI proceeded to show Josh a hologram that floated in front of him of the earth from space. He showed Josh how to zoom in and out and move forward and backward in time. The videos were horrific. The magnetic poles had started shifting or alternating north and south. That had caused earthquakes and floods. Mountains had been leveled and created. Cities destroyed. No part of the earth was spared. Humankind had banded together and built space ships large enough to be cities and even started building on the moon and a few other planets. But more tragedy struck as the close quarters caused already high tensions to flare to Conflagration. Humanity was on the brink of being wiped out a second time, when Master Au’s teachings of peace and logic were adopted by most of the survivors.
“Who was Master Au?”
Master Au started the Analytics, who prize logic above all else. This allowed them to prosper when all others were panicking in the Conflagration. Those survivors are the ancestors of the ones you have seen.
Amazed, Josh asked “How many are left?”
That is beyond your—
“Fine. Why was I abducted?”
The Lytix have—
“Who?”
They called themselves the Analytics in the beginning. Master Au taught them
to only be analytical in all of their thoughts. Now they have shortened it to Lytix.
“Okay, sorry. Where were we?
We are still on the moon and have been this entire time.
“You haven’t mastered all the subtleties of speech patterns, have you?”
Humans are infinitely creative in their modes of expression; and not always logical. What I was teaching about the Lytix was that they have almost reached the pinnacle of logic, but this has perhaps come with a cost. They do not have the speed that they need for battle.
“Do you mean that they need warriors and I am it?”
You and many others. The Natix…they were called the Fanatics for their rages…are returning. After 700 years, they are coming back to this solar system.
“Are you saying that there are other humans out there in the galaxy?”
After the Conflagration, there was a faction who rejected Master Au’s teachings and they left the solar system.
“Where did they go?”
We do not know. All contact was forbidden.
After hours of questions and answers, Josh was exhausted. He wanted to know more, but needed rest. Ku showed up at the door. Josh thought it was Ku, because of the symbol on his coverall and because of the way he walked. The pilot of the saucer had behaved differently. Josh wanted to look into what differences there were between the Lytix, but perhaps that question was off limits, too.
Ku guided Josh to the cafeteria. The tables were filled with young men who stopped what they were doing and looked at Josh for a moment and then returned to their meal. There were over a hundred people in the room. Ku led Josh to a table with seven guys.
“Based on your testing, this is the group most compatible to you.”
Josh frowned, “Testing? What testing?”
The group laughed. A smaller kid looked up at him and smiled.
“Everything they do here is testing us, so you know.” He wasn’t speaking English, but Josh heard and understood everything that he said. He had learned a few things about the brain implant. Not only was it a shock collar, but it was a universal translator, too.
