by TM Toombs
“Protector, perhaps you could finish your report after you have eaten and rested. I’m sure Eshan is tired and hungry as well.” Kolass tilted his head towards the kitchen.
“Agreed. Emissary.” He bowed slightly and moved off to the kitchen and took a seat at the kitchen bar. Eshan followed him. A few minutes later he dished up a bowl of thick potato soup and placed it before him.
“I’m not the greatest cook on this moon, but it’s hot. Oh, wait ... maybe I am the greatest cook on this moon.” Eshan smiled but got no response.
Bax looked at the bowl and then at Eshan before nodding and digging into the steaming soup. The expression that crossed his face was a mix of bewilderment and fear. “What form of animal is this?”
“It’s not an animal. It’s called potato soup and it’s made from a root vegetable. Lots of potassium and good stuff. Makes little alien protectors grow up to be big and strong alien protectors.” Eshan smiled as he leaned his hip against the counter and dug into his own bowl, savoring the hot meal after a long day of hard work.
“I’ve had worse. And I’ve had better.” Bax attempted to mimic the smile.
“Wait, was that a joke? Did you just smile?” Eshan almost choked on a piece of potato as he tried to talk and eat at the same time.
Hearing the commotion in the kitchen, Kolass came to stand at the end of the bar, looking first at Eshan and then at Bax with a whimsical expression playing across his delicate features. “Humor?”
“Yes, I think so,” Eshan smiled warmly at Kolass and was rewarded with one in return.
“Humor is highly regarded among our people. To share it with someone is to accept them as a friend,” Kolass explained as Eshan set his bowl down and spooned soup into a third bowl.
Eshan looked thoughtfully at the two aliens sitting in his kitchen and realized the loneliness he’d been feeling since he arrived was lifting. “Our races aren’t so different after all.”
“No, we are not. There are many similarities. I hope that will lead to a peace talks and a mutually agreeable treaty between our races.” Kolass accepted the offered food.
“I think that would be beneficial to both of our races. Especially with the threat from the Greys.” Eshan leaned against the counter and reached for his rapidly cooling food.
The familiar tone of an incoming communication sounded over the HAB’s speaker system. Kolass and Bax stared at Eshan and he slowly set his bowl down on the counter. Oh shit.
“That is Command calling for a report. Don’t make any noise. If they find out you’re here, very bad things will happen.” The two aliens nodded their solemn understanding before Eshan left to answer the call.
Eshan sat down heavily in his chair and keyed the button to connect the video call. The blue Command screen was instantly replaced by the cheery face of Jerry Reitz. “Eshan! It’s good to see you still alive, my man! I wanted to let you know that I’ll be swinging by your humble little moon the day after tomorrow. Is there anything special you’d like me to include in this month’s supplies? Other than that complete radar panel that mysteriously got smashed.” Jerry’s laugh crackled over the speakers.
Eshan mocked hurt feelings. “No! Tell me you didn’t hear about that!” His face broke into a wide grin.
“I’m pretty sure everyone at Command heard about it. And the General is kinda pissed. Probably a good thing you’re stuck so far out there. Otherwise, he’d probably strap your ass to a deep space probe and light the fuse on the rocket himself!” Jerry and Eshan shared a hearty laugh.
“Seriously, though,” Jerry continued, “that guy you tried to beat to death?”
Eshan’s stomach tightened. It felt like eons ago since he'd smashed that man into the concrete, yet the instant flashback of recalling Anna's final words, seeing her die in his arms, brought a sharp ache to his heart. He whispered, “Yeah?”
“Good news. He’s going to make it, so you’re off the hook for murder.”
Eshan slumped back into his chair. He looked at the ceiling and let out a long breath. Good news, very good, yet the gripping pain in his chest still clung to the image of his Anna. He closed his eyes a moment, willing himself back to the present. “In that case, I’ll take a six pack of Alaskan Amber.”
“Now you know I can’t transport alcohol,” Jerry said with a straight face but ended with a quick wink. “Sit tight and I’ll be there in two days. Command out.” The screen changed to blue. Eshan disconnected and rose to his feet. Not dead. Thank God. At least one thing is going in my favor.
He frowned. But that didn't commute his sentence or negate his contract. And within his next year? As if loneliness wasn't enough to battle, all hell could break loose between the Annunaks and Greys, yet it would look like humans had waged war on the Annunaks. No matter what went down, no one would worry over one expendable guy stuck on Charon. His only option: help the Emissary so he could go to Earth with them. And do it within two days.
He walked swiftly back to the kitchen and found his companions where he’d left them, “Two days. We have two days until the transport ship gets here and they find out about you.”
Bax and Kolass looked at each other with panic dancing in their eyes then nodded, something unspoken but understood. Bax stood up and looked solemnly into Eshan’s eyes. “We will work until it is finished.” Then he turned and headed towards his spacesuit folded neatly on the floor next to the hatch. Eshan looked at his cold bowl of soup and sighed, then joined Bax at the hatch to suit up.
Before he placed his helmet over his head, he looked across the room at Kolass, “Don’t wait up.”
They were outside and speeding toward the ship in no time. When they pulled up to the crashed ship, Bax jumped out and began barking orders before Eshan had cleared the vehicle.
“In the supply room you organized earlier, there is a box of multi-colored crystal. Do you remember seeing it?”
“I do.” Eshan dashed into the crashed ship following Bax down the hallway that led to the supply room and engine room.
“Good. Find it and bring it to me in the engine room. We’ll start with the Level One panels.” Bax bolted past the supply room, heading for the engine room. Eshan turned left and entered the supply room, going instantly to where he remembered seeing the large box of multi-colored crystals. He checked the contents of the box, pulled it off the counter and ran to the engine room. He found Bax already disconnecting dead crystals. Eshan sat the box down at his feet, panting.
“Remove the crystal at the connectors, like this.” Bax demonstrated how to remove the crystal from the control board by twisting it counter-clockwise to loosen it then pulled it free. He handed Eshan the disconnected crystal to inspect. Next, he opened the box Eshan had delivered and pulled out a new crystal.
“Insert the new crystal by pushing it into the circular slot and twisting to the right.” Bax explained as he inserted a new crystal and twisted it until it was seated with a small clicking sound.
“Questions?” He looked at Eshan who shook his head inside his helmet. “Finish these panels. I’ll be on Level 2. Once you are done, proceed to Level 3. I will join you there.” Eshan nodded inside his helmet and began work on the opened panels. The work went faster than he expected. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s easy or because I don’t want to be here when Jerry and that trigger-happy asshole, Rodgers, gets here. Or a little of both.
After he finished replacing all the destroyed crystal, he climbed the two sets of metallic looking stairs to the third level and found Bax already there.
“Damn, you really got a move on,” Eshan said in way of a greeting. “Where do you want me to start?”
“Take over for me here,” Bax handed him the burned-out crystal he’d just worked free from the control board. “I will go to the control console on level one and begin priming the computers. I would send you, but I’m afraid a majority of our technology is beyond human comprehension.”
“Alrighty then. That doesn’t make me feel like a trained circus
monkey at all.” Eshan raised his right eyebrow then got to work on the crystal in his hand. Bax left him and headed to work on the ship’s computers on the first level.
Eshan made short work of the repairs and rejoined Bax. He stood nearby and quietly watched as Bax methodically went through each computer system. Eshan didn’t offer to help. The whole array made him feel like an infant watching a doctor perform a complicated surgery. I’d help more by staying out of his way.
Shortly, Bax stepped back and huffed. He stepped up to the console again, placed his hand on a screen, waited, then stepped back again. Nothing. He tried again with no results. Bax kicked the base of the console and mumbled something that sounded to Eshan like what might have been an Annunak cuss word. Eshan stifled a smile. Seems we are all too much alike. Sadly, the kicking and swearing didn't help this console any more than Eshan's destruction of his alarm panel had.
“Maybe I didn’t connect something the right way?” Eshan offered.
“All the connections are correct. The diagnostics were green. I believe this terminal has been destroyed.”
“What’s it for?”
“It monitors life support systems. It would be inadvisable and dangerous to attempt travel without it. But we may have no choice.” He turned to Eshan and studied him for a moment. “Do you want to monitor the computer or repair the holes in the ship?”
He shrugged. “I’m up for whatever you think I’d be best at.”
Bax turned and walked over to another console with Eshan right behind him. He waved his hand over a small panel and a huge bank of instruments sprang to life. He pointed at a grouping of four screens. “If any of these have a status change, notify me.” Bax handed Eshan a small, round, black item resembling a hockey puck.
“What do I do with this? Chip one in past a goalie?”
Without a hint of expression, Bax explained, “Speak towards it. It’s linked directly to the headset in my helmet.” Bax pointed at his head.
“Ah. OK.” Eshan nodded. Apparently, these guys aren’t hockey fans.
“I am going to do inspections on each of the hull sections. If hull integrity is breached or fluctuates, an alarm will be tripped. Touch this screen here and read the system notification here.” Bax pointed to the alarm screen and then the notification screen. “Then tell me what the screen displays.”
“I think even I can do that.” Eshan studied the different screens to familiarize himself with them.
“I thought you were a trained monkey.”
“Oh, we have jokes now?” Eshan turned to look at Bax and staggered backwards when he saw the big guy smiling at him with what could best be described as a toothy grimace.
“Is that a smile or are you going to eat me?”
“I don’t eat monkey.”
“Ha. I thought you had a hull breach to fix.” Eshan smirked at him.
“I do, indeed.” Bax left Eshan at the console to stare at the unchanging displays.
Tired of standing, Eshan gingerly sat on the edge of the console, careful not to touch any of its buttons or panels with his body. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked around the large engine room. Now that he had more than a fleeting glance at the place, he was amazed at the enormity of the room. The ship looks a lot smaller on the outside.
The piercing sound of an alarm made Eshan jump up from the console and hastily scan the panels Bax had indicated earlier. He found one of them flashing green and touched the alarm as he’d been instructed.
“Bax, the display message indicates that hull integrity is now at 80% in that location, up from 45%.”
“Affirmative. I will continue on to the next section.”
“OK. Good work.” Eshan settled back down and waited for the next alarm to be triggered. He didn’t have to wait for more than a few minutes.
“Hull integrity is now at 75% at that location.”
“75% wasn’t what I was working towards, but it will have to suffice.”
“Beats the 50% it was.”
“Agreed.”
Bax continued to make hull repairs while Eshan maintained his updates until all the small breeches had been repaired.
“Meet me at the large breech by the rover,” Bax’s voice boomed inside Eshan’s helmet.
“Be there in two.” Eshan shoved himself away from the console and made his way to the large hole in the hallway. Bax was standing in the middle of it, looking up.
“Any idea how you’re going to patch that one?” Eshan came a stop next to him and looked up as well.
“Yes. But I do not think you are going to like my solution.”
“Nothing surprises me anymore.” Eshan looked at the big guy.
Looking down at Eshan, “I require a wall from your HAB.”
“Nope. That doesn’t surprise me. Not one bit. I just need to corral Princess and get her into her transport box before we can start gutting the HAB.”
“You are not bringing that creature onboard my ship,” Bax stated.
“Well, I’m not leaving her here to die.”
“Your supply ship will surely collect her.”
“I won’t take that chance. They’ll be too distracted by my not being here to notice one little kitten left behind.”
“Do you really want to start a fight over this cat creature?” Bax’s heavy brows dipped in the center, his violet eyes sparked with coppery glints.
Eshan crossed his arms over his chest and put on his best poker face, “I’d win.”
Bax stepped forward until Eshan’s helmet touched his chest.
Eshan tilted his head back and considered the big alien’s face. Enough of cowering from Mister Bully. Eshan squinted his eyes, curled back his lips and growled like an angry momma bear.
Bax sighed. “OK. You win. But you must keep the feline beast in its cage. I don’t want blood and guts all over the ship when it gets eaten.” Bax patted Eshan on the shoulder and stepped back.
“What? What do you have on board that I don’t know about?!” Eshan dropped his arms and whipped his head around, searching every corner with wide eyes.
“A Targo. They are like one of your golden eagles, only larger. Every ship has an animal escort to symbolize the family’s spirit animal.”
“Oh. That explains the movement I thought I saw in the cockpit.”
“You were lucky it didn’t attack you. They are very protective.”
Eshan swallowed. The peaceful Emissary he whacks while a predator bird escapes his notice. “I guess we should get back to the HAB and get started on the demolition.”
“Yes. It would be wise to be far away from here before your supply ship arrives.”
“It’s not really the supply ship I’m worried about. It’s the fighter escort.”
Bax looked at him suddenly. “Our ship has no weapons.”
“Then we better get our asses in gear.”
“Agreed.”
Eshan stepped through the hole in the ship, followed closely behind by Bax. They scrambled into the rover and headed back to the HAB. As they approached radio distance of the structure, Kolass’ frantic voice crackled and popped over their helmet speakers.
“…must get here immediately. Emissary is…urgently need your help.”
“Almost there.” Bax’s clipped words in Eshan’s helmet speaker were tinged with concern.
With his own sense of urgency mounting, Eshan pushed harder on the accelerator and willed the rover to find some undiscovered speed reserve. Several painfully long minutes later they arrived at the front hatch to the HAB. Bax and Eshan leapt from the vehicle and sprinted for the door. As soon as the hatch opened enough to allow them in, they rushed to the next hatch and waited impatiently for the chamber to re-pressurize and the interior door to open. An ashen faced Kolass met them at the door.
“She is dying,” he said in a hushed voice, his eyes briefly glancing at me, then turned quickly and returned to the Emissary’s side before sitting on the floor next to the sofa where the Emissary lay, deathly
pale. Her eyes closed, Eshan feared they were too late. His heart sank—he'd killed her. Bax removed his helmet and hurried across the room to stand behind Kolass. Bax leaned over Kolass and gently took the Emissary’s hand. Her eyes slowly opened at his touch.
Eshan took a breath, not realizing he'd been holding it. He removed his helmet and joined them.
“Bax, my beloved. I had hoped you would return soon.” She smiled lovingly up at him. He smiled back at her warmly. Eshan saw a display of stunned awe painted on Kolass’ face. From Bax's warm smile or the intimacy implied between the two, he could only guess.
“The ship is almost repaired, Emissary. We have one breach left to repair and then we can get you into a medical stasis compartment and depart for home.”
Home? Eshan suddenly realized all their plans, all his plans, may have changed. If they needed to get her to their own medical facilities, they might scuttle this mission to Earth for now.
Bax prodded Kolass to move aside then knelt next to Ne-Paw, never letting go of her hand.
“I would have liked to see home one last time,” she breathed, patting his hand with her free one.
“You will. Very soon.” He leaned over and kissed her forehead lightly.
“If only that were true. I am afraid it isn’t.” He started to protest but she placed her fingers over his lips. “You and Kolass must carry on with the objective entrusted to us.”
“Neither of us is Emissary,” Kolass said quietly from beside Bax.
Bax nodded. "We are not qualified, Emissary. You've been schooled on reaching these humans, how to approach them. Neither Kolass nor I—"
"I know," she interrupted. She paused, catching her breath to regain a bit of energy before continuing. "Neither of you are prepared. But there is one who understands the complexities of the human environment and its governing bodies."
Emissary looked past Bax to meet Eshan’s eyes. “You will be Emissary.”
Eshan looked behind him, then back at the other two. She was talking to him? He shook his head and stammered, “I can’t. I couldn’t.”
