by Vixa Moon
Like us Tarnens, they are multi-colored. Many of them are blue. Some are green, and some even purple. Like us, they are humanoid. Long ago, we must have come from the same source, the same race of aliens, possibly the ones that left the oracle computer in the cave back on Tarnen.
It’s the ship I learned to fly on, so it’s been banged up quite a bit. I didn’t go easy on the Verdant Falcon. No, I pushed it constantly to its limits. We Tarnens are known to be adventurous and impulsive, especially in our youth, but I took it to a whole new level. I flew through asteroid belts. I landed on two of the Vapor Planets, where temperatures will melt a humanoid in a second flat. I did a ton of crazy things, and barely lived to tell the tale.
But despite all my adventurous, this is my first time out of my galaxy.
Olivia Masters lives far, far away from Tarnen.
I have the coordinates of her system plugged into the computer. The Verdant Falcon’s engines are at full blast, but the ship itself glides silently through space.
It was strange seeing the antiquated computer of the oracle. The computer onboard the Verdant Falcon is light years more sophisticated than that seemingly-ancient machine. But the oracle computer has something special to it. It has its own kind of magic. Maybe it looks antiquated, but inside something happens in a way that we Tarnens still don’t know how to replicate, despite our other technology.
In the pilot’s chair, I lean back and relax. I watch the stars zoom by, melding into mere streaks of light.
My muscles are still stiff and sore from the long trek to and from the oracle. But the pains of my body are of no concern to me. In fact, I still relish them. My cuts and bruises are symbols of how far I will go for my mate, Olivia Masters.
The lights of the cockpit blink a calm green, telling me that everything is running smoothly, just as it should be.
I’m no longer dressed in a mere loincloth, as I was for the journey to the oracle.
Now, I wear the uniform and colors of a Tarnan prince. On my belt, my blaster hangs. And I am ready to use it if I need to.
It’s been a week since I left Tarnen. I spent much of the time waiting and dreaming of my mate, the gorgeous Olivia Masters.
My ship travels faster than the speed of light, and very soon I will enter Olivia’s galaxy.
“Approaching Terrestrial Earth,” says the Verdant Falcon’s computer, a suave digital voice.
“So soon?”
“We arrived faster than expected, due to a favorable direction of sub-space particle currents.”
“Can you get a read yet on the technology?” I say to the computer. “I know they are humanoids, so I expect them to have reached a fairly sophisticated level.”
“The data is just coming online, sir,” says the computer. “One moment.”
I wait, somewhat impatiently, as the computer crunches the numbers on the data coming from the ship’s scanners.
“Still working on it?” I say, the impatience showing in my voice.
“Just a moment,” says the computer again. It seems to wait an impossibly long time before speaking. “The data has been analyzed, sir. It seems as if their technological level is rudimentary at best.”
“Rudimentary?” I say, surprised. I didn’t expect my mate to come from a rudimentary planet. I imagined she’d be a princess on a planet at least somewhat comparable to Tarnen. “How rudimentary are we talking about? Tell me they’ve at least traveled beyond light speed.”
“I’m afraid not, sir,” says the computer dryly.
“No light speed? That’s incredible. They’re basically still banging two rocks together then…”
“Not quite,” says the computer. “They seem to have concentrated on communication devices in recent years.”
“Communication devices?”
“Something they call cell phones, sir. They send a type of radiation to towers, placed around the planet. It seems that artificial satellites are involved, too.”
“Cell phones, eh?” I say, chuckling to myself. “So they’re still figuring out the basics of communication.”
The computer tells me how they’ve experimented with the most basic aspects of space flight. It seem as if they’ve reached their moon, and sent mechanical probes to some nearby planets. And that’s about it.
I’m completely overwhelmed by how basic they sound. It’s incredible that in this day and age there’s still a planet out there that’s so basic.
“One more thing, sir,” says the computer. “They haven’t yet had contact with other planets.”
My jaw drops.
“Are you serious?” I say.
My remark is lost on the computer.
“Quite serious, sir,” says the computer, in its dry tone.
“I’m going to have a lot of explaining to do then,” I mutter, more to myself than the computer.
“Explaining, sir?” says the computer.
“Forget it,” I say. “Just do me a favor and dig through their records for Olivia Masters, now that you have access to their systems.”
“One moment,” says the computer. There’s a long pause. “I apologize for the delay. But their computer systems are so rudimentary it takes extra time to access it.”
I lean further back in my chair and close my eyes. This situation is a little tough to swallow—my mate coming from such a rudimentary planet. But I know she’s my mate. For one thing, the oracle is never wrong. And I had that feeling as soon as I saw her face. It’s something in my gut, in my bones, in my muscles. And I can’t deny it. But it’s also simply unheard of for a mate to come from a planet that hasn’t even had contact with the outside universe. I don’t know if it’s ever even happened before. But the oracle is never wrong.
“You found her yet?” I say.
“Yes,” says the computer, pausing awkwardly.
“What is it?”
“It seems she is missing,” says the computer.
“Missing? What do you mean?”
“According to a local law enforcement report that I was able to access with considerable difficult…”
“No need to show off for me by telling me how difficult your task is,” I say. “Just tell me what it says.”
“Her mother called her and Olivia Masters did not pick up, an action that was judged unusual by the mother.”
“Those cell phones, huh?” I say, amused by how simple their technology is.
I’m not worried about her going missing. On Tarnen, people often go “missing” from their family members, when they need to spend some time alone in the wilds. It’s a sort of cultural tradition.
If Olivia Masters is on her planet, I’ll find her.
“The mother traveled to Ms. Masters’ house,” continues the computer. “Only to find the cell phone abandoned by the road side. In other human literature, I am learning that cell phones are highly prized objects, and rarely abandoned.”
“Hmm,” I say, starting to get a little concerned. “So why would she abandon her cell phone?”
“And it does not seem to be a cultural tradition to disappear without notification,” says the computer. “The way that it is on Tarnen.”
“How long until we reach Earth?” I say.
“Ten minutes at the current speed.”
I fall silent, pondering the situation.
Something sounds strange about this… my mate goes missing, and her mother is concerned enough to call the local law enforcement. It doesn’t sound like she’s just an overprotective mother, given what the computer is saying about Earth customs.
The cell phone left by the road—that strikes me as particularly strange. It jogs a memory of something from way back. There was a case of a CAT kidnapping a few years back. The CAT can be effective, with their brute strength. But they are also sloppy, and they never seem to cover their tracks properly.
Could the CAT possibly have intercepted information from my ship’s computer about Olivia?
They are well known for interfering with our search for our
mates. After all, if they destroy our mates, they destroy us.
But that would be unusually crafty of them.
“Computer,” I say. “I need you to scan as far as you can. Look on the Delta frequencies.”
“Delta frequencies, sir? But the CAT cloak their ships on Delta. The CAT aren’t known to these parts. There have never been any reports of them…”
“Just do it,” I say. “Divert all power to scanners.”
“Statistically, the chance of a CAT ship here…”
“Shut up and do it,” I say, stomping my foot against the dashboard as an extra incentive.
“Certainly,” says the computer dryly.
The lights in the ship start to fade. The ship slows down, the stars start to look like individual dots instead of long streaks. That’s what happens when you request a diversion of all power from a very literal computer.
“A CAT ship has been detected,” says the computer.
“I was right, asshole,” I say, which means nothing to the computer. “Now scan that ship for life forms and give me the readouts. Fast!”
Through the cockpit windshield, a planet is approaching. This must be Earth, the planet still practically in the stone age. It’s beautiful, a mixture of blue and white swirls.
“Two CATs detected, and one Earthling.”
“You sure?”
“Affirmative.”
Sometimes it pays to work off your intuition.
This means that the CAT have abducted Olivia Masters, my fated mate.
My body heats up. The anger rushes through me. I squeeze my powerful hands into clenched fists.
They won’t get away with this.
“Computer,” I say. “Take us off autopilot.”
“That isn’t advisable,” says the computer.
“Then I’ll do it myself,” I snarl.
I grab the yoke. I flip a series of switches on the dashboard and slam the emergency auto-pilot release, forcing the computer to relinquish control of the Verdant Falcon back to me.
I pull on the yoke, hard, swinging the ship around, away from the planet in front of me.
I glance at the map readout on the dash. The CAT ship shows up as a blinking white light.
Suddenly, another blinking white light appears.
“Another CAT ship has been detected,” says the computer. “Your current trajectory is inadvisable. Your odds of defeating both in combat are one to one hundred and…”
“Shut up,” I mutter, slamming a button that turns off the computer’s voice.
My hand on the lever, I increase the speed to maximum.
They have my Olivia.
I’m going to get her back. Whatever it takes, I’ll do it. I’m ready to fight and die for her.
4
Olivia
I wake up groggily. My eyes are slow to open. I hear the sounds first—strange sounds. Someone is speaking a language that I don’t recognize. They’re making guttural noises, punctuated by occasional hissing.
Apart from the strange speech noises, there’s a constant loud whirring noise. It sounds a little like a super powerful air conditioner might.
The ground beneath me is vibrating. I can feel my body shaking with it.
Where am I? What’s going on?
My eyes finally open, and the world is blurry in front of me.
There’s crude-looking metal all around me. I swivel my head, trying to look around.
There must be some mistake. My eyes must be playing tricks on me. The metal looks very odd, like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
Suddenly, in a flash, I remember what happened to me.
Two men kidnapped me. One caught me from behind, and the other sprayed something in my face. It must have been some drug that knocked me out.
And now I’m waking up in… what, their van or something?
But this doesn’t look at all like a van.
Part of my memory troubles me. I remember the men being massively tall and blue. Did the chemical they sprayed me with give me brain damage or something? No one is blue.
My vision is gradually clearing up, becoming less blurry. I seem to be at the end of a long corridor, maybe thirty feet long. At the end there are two figures.
I try to rub the sleep out of my eyes.
The guttural noises continue.
My vision finally clears up enough that I see them. Two of them. Two huge hulking blue men.
I almost have a heart attack at the sight of them again. So I wasn’t imagining things. And they’re definitely not wearing suits. They simply look too real.
They look like…
Aliens…
Big, hulking blue aliens.
Am I dreaming?
No, I’m definitely not dreaming.
The metal underneath me is vibrating furiously.
I place my hands on it, to feel the cold surface.
Wherever I am, I’ve got to get out of here. Things may not have been going well for me, back at my rented house. But at least I had Star Trek. And at least I wasn’t the prisoner of some unknown alien creatures.
Somewhat shaky from the after-effects of the drug, I manage to rise to my feet. I walk forward, slowly, heading towards the aliens because there’s no other direction to go. Behind me, there’s just a wall of this strange metal.
“Khorgan burk burk!” says one of the aliens.
He rises to his feet. There’s a look of intense anger on his face, and he’s looking right at me.
I’m weak on my feet, and there’s nowhere to run to, even if I could.
The alien approaches me, reaching down towards the gun that hangs on his belt.
Is he going to kill me? Then again, why would he kidnap me if he was going to kill me?
I look around frantically for somewhere to go, for some kind of exit.
What I see startles me beyond words.
There’s a window in the metal. It looks something like a porthole on a ship, made of glass, fixed into the metal wall. Outside the window, there are stars. The stars zip by, little white specks. In the distance, there’s one star that’s bigger than them all. That must be the sun. My sun.
My jaw drops.
I can’t believe it.
For a moment, I forget my troubles, and am struck in awe by what’s happening to me.
So I’m on an alien space ship. I’ve been abducted. This is real? I’m flying on a real life alien spaceship through the solar system. This is by far the absolute craziest thing that’s ever happened to me.
Too bad these aliens don’t seem the least bit friendly.
I turn back to the alien, who growls at me as he approaches me slowly.
Suddenly, something materializes right in front of me.
The air seems to shimmer at first. There are streams of sparkling lights, bright purple and dark green, that form twisting columns in the air.
The air is filled with an intense hissing noise.
Slowly, the form of a man starts to appear in front of me, in the middle of the vortex of swirling static and lights.
He’s massive, huge and muscular, tall and powerful-looking. But he’s not quite as tall as my captors.
He looks humanoid, from what I can tell.
My alien captors shout something at each other. They have their weapons drawn. But they don’t go for their guns. Instead, they each take their ax-like weapons, viciously curved instruments of death.
They rush forward, sprinting towards the man who just materialized in front of me.
The new man doesn’t make an attempt to fight. Instead, he looks at me.
He reaches out with his hand.
“Tyo ha moka,” he says, or something that sounds like that.
I look up at him, hesitant to take his hand. Even though I don’t understand his words, I understand his message. He’s telling me to grab his hand, to trust him.
So far, my experience with aliens is that I should not trust them.
I look into his eyes. Time seems to slow down. There’s
only a single moment left before the blue aliens reach us, their axes held high in the air, ready to strike.
What have I got to lose? I take his hand, and the world seems to swirl around me.
The ship I was on disappears completely. For a moment, I feel lost to the universe. I feel like I’m in some in-between state, somewhere between the atoms, lost deep down in the building blocks of matter. The colors swirl and the lights flash and the sounds roar in my ears, louder than a thousand armies clashing.
5
Korzak
I materialize back on the Verdant Falcon. My hand clutches hers. My mate. I’ve finally got her, Olivia Masters.
I used my material transporter to transport myself onto the CAT ship. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she took my hand, and the Verdant Falcon’s computer brought us back onboard.
I would have fought them. I wanted to fight them, to destroy them for what they did. But I managed to contain my fury and my rage. I managed to contain it and to not fight them. Only by taking that path could I secure Olivia’s safety.
One of the CATs managed to slash me with his spliced electric ax. It caught me on my shoulder. There’s a big bleeding gash there. The pain sears through my body. But I ignore it.
I want to go to her, to make sure she’s all right. I want to comfort her, to hold her and cherish her. After all, she’s my fated mate, the one I’ll be with the rest of my life, the one I’ve been yearning and dreaming of before I even knew her identity.
But I’ve got to get us out of this mess. There are still two heavily armed CAT ships close by. I had to get very close to them for the material transporter to work.
“CAT ships approaching,” says the computer. “This is a critical warning.”
“That’s a big help,” I say, throwing myself down into the cockpit chair and taking the yoke.
I hit the buttons to activate the shields.
I have to somewhat outmaneuver the CATs, or destroy them in battle. But two against one is never good odds.
