Anna snapped her fingers. “Yes! That’s them. But, they didn’t have gray skin. It was more flesh-colored like mine.”
“Anna, this is an archived illustration.”
Mouth agape, the blonde switched her gaze between the two holograms without saying a word for several seconds. “Archived?”
Kate walked over to stand next to the other hologram. “This image was in the ship’s memory storage. It was located under the topic ‘Ancient Religions’. Why we have this information in the system is unknown to me.”
Anna frowned. “I may have an idea.”
Kate continued, as if there had been no interjection, “This image is labeled with the name ‘Asag’, which is the name of an ancient Sumerian monster dating back to around 4,000 BC. According to the myths, Asag was said to have brought great pestilence upon the land and dried up entire bodies of water. It is also said that he led an army of stone soldiers, conquered the lands with great power, and was considered by many to be invulnerable to weapons of the time, which would have primarily been an axe or spear.”
Anna leaned back and contemplated the information for a moment. “You know, that would make some sense, if my theory is anywhere near accurate.”
“What would that be, Anna?”
“Suppose this race has been spacefaring for thousands of years, well before we began forming our first civilizations. If one of their ships had crashed or even just landed on Earth around where the Sumerians lived, the aftermath of that encounter would have wreaked havoc on, well, everything. We’ve seen evidence of meteorites messing with ecosystems when they hit. Why not a starship? If it had been a crash, the impact could theoretically have created a blast wave that evaporated lakes and scorched the land.
“If this ‘Asag’ monster,” Anna made quotation marks in the air to illustrate her point, “was the ship’s captain or a high-ranking officer, he could have led the survivors in an effort to carve out an area for themselves on ancient Earth. With superior weapons, armor, and technology, they would seem like an unbeatable foe.
“And, I’m willing to bet their armor was gray, too.” Anna jabbed her finger at the hologram to emphasize her point.
Kate nodded. “That seems like a reasonable assumption, but it is only a theory. Without any kind of concrete evidence to support your hypothesis, that is as far as it can go.”
Anna shrugged, a lopsided grin on her face. “Yeah, I know, but it is kind of intriguing to think that this race has had contact with humans before now.”
She slid out of the chair and walked toward the airlock.
“Anna, where are you going now?”
Anna turned around in front of the airlock and smirked. “I need to check if the rest of my clothes are dry. If I am going to be making new friends, I might as well wear underwear.”
Chapter 19
Three months had passed since Anna’s encounter at the pyramid. Since then, she had neither seen nor heard from them, leaving her doubting whether they would try to contact her or visit the pyramid again.
In either case, she knew she had to carry on with her life and focus on creating a source of food for herself. She had exhausted the supplies from the ship’s larder, and relied solely on the crops she grew and the meat she hunted during the monthly eclipse. Using the poncho to mask her presence and the night-vision setting on the binoculars to help her see in the darkness, she procured enough meat each time to last until the next cycle. Her success even gave her enough confidence to face a wandering predator when one ventured too close to her. And, she found their meat quite tasty.
Her homestead now operated like a well-oiled machine. Anna owed a lot of that to Kate and the drones. Without their help, she would still be struggling with planting a small field of crops that may have not produced anything worthwhile. Starvation was not a situation she wanted to face.
The food thrived under the drones’ care. Through her foraging efforts she located several forms of vegetation that safely satisfied her nutritional needs. She appreciated the variety her gardens gave her, but a craving for corn on the cob had nagged her the last few weeks. And though the tubers she transplanted added some healthy starch to her diet, they would never taste like the garlic mashed potatoes she loved so much.
The ship still rested on the ground. The wood she had originally obtained for the purpose of raising the ship and repairing the landing struts was diverted to building a water wheel and irrigation system for the crops. Keeping the crops alive seemed to be a higher priority than walking on a level surface inside the ship. Besides, there would be plenty of time later on to bring up more wood to build the platform. She knew full well that nobody was coming her way any time soon.
* * * * *
“Jump complete, Cap’n,” a scruffy-looking pilot called from the small bridge in a thick cockney accent. He looked over his shoulder at the tall, clean-shaven, dark-haired man standing behind him. The captain, wearing a navy blue jacket and pants over a white T-shirt, didn’t change his expression. “Initiate a scan of the area. I need to know where that mining station is.”
The pilot jabbed his gloved finger through the switch in the holographic control panel, allowing the sensor display to appear. Seconds later, the image changed to show a large area ahead with a good number of blips.
“Well, Cap’n, I’m not findin’ this station of yours, but I am seein’ quite a bit o’ debris ahead. Maybe someone got sick o’ your station and blew it t’ Kingdom Come.”
The captain leaned closer to the display, narrowing his eyes as he studied the results. He grimaced several seconds later before standing upright again.
“Take us closer to the debris field, Robert. I need to know for sure.”
“Aye, Cap’n.”
The vessel, a larger, rusting freighter that had seen better days, lurched forward and coasted through the void toward the debris.
The pilot cleared his throat, breaking the silence. “Cap’n, I’m pickin’ up a smaller debris field ‘bout five hundred clicks further in t’ward the sun.”
“We can check on that later. Focus a scan on the larger debris and look for any indications as to what this was.”
Robert’s fingers flew over the controls by the sensor display. Through the forward screen, the captain watched the white sensor beam, made visible by the dust floating around the debris, sweep over the area several times.
Robert pointed to an image on the holographic display a few seconds after the beam ceased. “Cap’n, you migh’ wanna see this.”
He poked a switch by the sensors and opened a new holographic window that showed a picture of a jagged slab of metal on which were printed the letters “NING STAT” in white.
The captain gave a slight smile. “That settles that. Set a course for the gas giant.”
“Wha’ ‘bout that other debris field?”
“Probably the old man trying to get away from whatever destroyed the station. Ignore it. Proceed as instructed.”
“Aye, Cap’n.”
Several minutes later, the freighter approached the large gaseous planet and drifted into its gravity well.
“Keep the ship moving, Robert. Establish an orbit around it.” The captain stared out the forward viewscreen toward the planet.
“Wha’ are you lookin’ for?”
“Keep your eyes peeled for a moon with a breathable atmosphere.”
“Colony world?”
The captain shook his head. “Actually, no. It’s completely uninhabited.”
Robert turned around in his seat and looked at his superior officer. “Are you shittin’ me? An earthlike world that ain’t got nobody on it, and Earth don’t know nothin’ ‘bout it? Sounds like a gold mine t’ me.”
The captain’s eyes narrowed. “Precisely. What better place to use as our new base of operations?”
The pilot chuckled and turned back to the controls. “I like the way you think.”
A short time later, the captain floated above the walkway that traversed the cargo
hold, the other four members of his crew either floating or standing nearby.
“When we find a suitable landing site, we need to offload the building materials first and begin work on making the structure as quickly as possible. If the scans from my archives still hold true, the place where we set down will be teeming with savage creatures, so we will need to…”
“Cap’n!” Robert’s voice from over the loudspeaker interrupted him.
The captain sighed. “Yes, Robert.”
“I found the moon you were talkin’ ‘bout and started orbitin’ it. But, I need to show you som’thin’.”
Giving another sigh, the captain pulled himself along by grabbing the handrails. “On my way.”
“Shouldn’t we go with you?” One of the men behind him spoke with a French accent.
Stopping for a second, the captain turned back around. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
A minute later, the officer stepped into the room and stood behind the British pilot, the expression on his stalwart face betraying his displeasure at being disturbed. “Well, what have you found, Robert?”
Skeptically, the pilot asked, “I thought you said this place was unin’abited?”
“It is. Why?”
Toggling the sensors panel again, the pilot hit a few more buttons to produce the display. Robert pointed to the image. “I’m pickin’ up multiple electronic sources from this area east o’ this lake ‘ere.”
The captain leaned in and stroked his chin. “Can you zoom in on it?”
Nodding, Robert replied, “We’ll be passin’ over the area ‘gain in a few seconds. I’ll zoom in ‘ere in a sec.”
A brief moment passed, and the pilot locked on the location and focused in on the area. The resulting image showed a clearing around a ship. Several drones maneuvered about the area.
“Mining drones,” the captain commented under his breath. “It looks like the old man got away after all.”
Robert interrupted, “Hold on, Cap! Pickin’ up some movement by the ship down there.”
Manipulating the image, the picture zoomed in to the vessel itself, then focused to produce an image of a blonde woman lying on her back, naked, and surrounded by clothing.
“Bloody ‘ell! It’s a bird!”
The captain’s eyes grew wide, but he said nothing as he watched.
“Lads, check this! She’s naked!”
At that second, the other four crewmen crammed their way into the bridge, climbing over themselves to get a glimpse of the video feed.
“No way!”
“Let me see!”
“Holy shit!”
The sudden rush of extra bodies into the miniscule room nearly shoved the captain into the pilot’s lap and through the forward window.
“’oi!” Robert yelled. “I’m flyin’ a ship, ya know.”
“Sorry.” The Asian crewman pushed himself back into the throng of men behind him.
The captain stood against the wave of bodies. “Guys! Everyone will be able to see. Just calm down and find a spot to squeeze into.”
The crew visibly calmed down and found their places in the room. At that point, all six men stared intently at the image on the screen, a couple with mouths wide open. The room was deathly silent, the only sound the slight hum of the ship’s engines far behind them.
One of the crewmen muttered under his breath with a Hispanic voice, “Wow! I haven’t seen a woman in months.”
Robert, breaking the silence several seconds later, said, “Yeah. Check out the jubblies on ‘er bouncin’ as she ‘as at it!”
“I’ll show you all how the French pleasure a woman,” the French man said. “We are known for our way with women.”
“It takes one to know one.” The Asian man smirked as he jabbed with his comment.
“Shut up.”
A dark-skinned man added in a thick African accent, “I would take her from behind and try not to break her.”
The Hispanic crewman said, “Leave me an eye socket.”
The other five men stopped and turned to stare at him, who suddenly looked from one face to the other defensively. “What?”
“Paco,” the French man said, humorless. “A little decorum, please.”
Paco frowned. “Sorry.”
Several seconds passed in silence, before the captain spoke again. “Enough. Show’s over.”
Groans from the rest of the crew evoked the captain’s booming response. “We’ve got work to do. Move!”
After the men cleared the bridge, the captain turned to Robert. “You are recording this, right?”
“Oh, yeah!” The captain smiled at Robert’s enthusiasm.
“Good! Now, shut it off and find us a good landing spot on the light side of the moon, far enough away that we can’t be detected.”
Robert responded with a curt nod. “Aye, Cap’n.”
* * * * *
Anna reclined with her eyes closed, basking in her orgasm, while lightly stroking a finger up and down the middle of her chest as she closed her legs. “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that.”
Her wristcomp, resting next to her on the ship’s hull, signaled an incoming message. Anna picked it up with a casual grace and answered the call. “Yes, Kate.”
“Are you finished?”
Anna instantly sobered up. “Wh…what do you mean?”
“Anna, please. I know you have been masturbating on top of the ship every time you take your clothes up to dry. You’ve been doing it for months now.”
“How…how?”
Kate answered with an amused, but annoyed, tone. “There are seventeen sets of eyes flying around the ship. Do you think one of them didn’t happen to stop and see what you’re doing?”
Anna felt as if she blushed from head to toe. She couldn’t avoid admitting the truth now.
“I…I,” Anna found herself unable to break through her feelings of humiliation.
Kate laughed. “Anna, it’s perfectly normal. You could do it right in front of me if you wanted, and it would not matter in the least.”
“Kate!” Anna sat upright.
“You don’t have to do that, of course. All I’m saying is, you don’t need to feel embarrassed by it. It’s perfectly natural for humans to do that.”
“I…I know. I just…I feel like I’ve been busted by my college roommate…again.”
“Well, it would seem that I’ve grown accustomed to your little quirks over time.”
Anna laughed. “Okay. I’m going to wait for my clothes to dry, then I’ll check up on the drones scheduled for today.”
“Very good, Anna.”
A short time later, Anna, now fully dressed, walked across the clearing and surveyed the plants growing in the nearest farmed plot. Separated into four sections, she crouched down and lightly rubbed a large leaf of what looked like a small, dark green head of lettuce, between her fingers. It felt thicker than the lettuce and cabbage she was used to eating, but Kate had assured her it was safe to eat. And she’d been right. Though a bit chewy, the vegetable tasted quite good, and made a great base for the salads she ate every day. After a couple of months, she had grown tired of eating it the same way, and began experimenting with different ways of preparing it.
Anna finished inspecting the crops, then followed the irrigation duct to the river and the grove of fruit trees. She had tried to get them to grow near the ship, but had been unsuccessful. She plucked a piece of happyfruit, the name she’d started calling it because of the way it lifted her spirits after eating it, and took a large bite as she strode to the riverbank. As expected, the euphoria emerged seconds after swallowing the first bite, and she smiled in response. She could not help but wonder if the consistent high was caused by some sort of chemical naturally grown in the happyfruit. She’d never got around to having Kate test it. Shrugging off the curious thoughts, she decided to bring it up later and just concentrate on watching the water wheel turn as the river flowed by.
The wristcomp signaled seconds after A
nna took another bite. She stuffed a sliver of fruit into her cheek. “Yesh?”
“Anna… are you eating again?”
“Sho what? What do you need?”
“The sensors are acting up again. Can you take a look at them?”
She chewed and swallowed the bite. “I’m telling you there is nothing wrong with the sensors. I’ve looked them over time and time again. The hardware is in perfect working order…all things considered.”
“Yeah, that’s the thing. The sensors still have a limited effective range of ten kilometers. I think you’re missing something.”
Anna scoffed as she took another bite. “I think that you need to run a diagnoshtic on your shoftware. Maybe shomethingsh gotten corrupted and needsh to be reinshtalled.”
“I would feel better if you would just look at the module again.”
Swallowing the chewed bite, she frowned. “As long as you run a diagnostic at the same time.”
Kate paused. “I agree to your terms.”
“Brilliant.” She still sounded a bit agitated. “On my way.”
Chapter 20
After the port cargo door slid open, the boarding ramp extended out and lowered to the ground below. Two crew members driving forklift walkers carried large crates down the ramp to the alien turf.
“Hey, Hikaru!” The Frenchman brought his walker to a halt at the foot of the ramp. “What do you think are the chances that we’ll meet that woman?”
Hikaru glanced toward him from his seat in the other walker as he maneuvered to the side and lowered his freight. “I don’t know, Michel. If I had something to say about it, I’d be flying over there right now with the biggest hard-on anyone’s ever seen.”
“I’d have to hold back with her. I’m afraid I’d kill her with my extraordinary skill in making love.”
“Yeah, she’d die laughing, when she saw how small your puny schlong is.”
Michel grimaced and turned his yellow walker toward Hikaru. “I don’t see you saying anything about fucking that woman. Maybe you prefer the other side of the fence, eh?”
Hikaru laughed. “I think not, my tiny friend. With me, making love is an art form, her entire body a canvas.”
Alone in Paradise (The Chronicles of Anna Foster Book 2) Page 14
