by Adam Moon
Then the captain said to the first mate, “Find out if that communication was ever received. Get those coordinates and maybe the mission isn’t a complete loss. If we find that commander, we can take his DNA.”
The first mate said, “These people were classified as level two priorities. We might not need them at all if they haven’t evolved since the last time they were scouted.”
The captain shook his head angrily. “They’ve discovered space travel. That’s significant enough to warrant their inclusion. Do your damn job.”
The first mate turned and nodded at his subordinates and they got to work.
Chris asked, “Did the Grays destroy the entire planet?”
“Yeah, it’s a hobby of theirs. They find a worthy race, infiltrate them to gather intel, and then wipe them out. We have no idea why they do what they do.” Again, Chris imagined he could detect deceit in the captain’s tone when he said he didn’t know the Grays’ motives. If the captain wasn’t a monstrous robotic freak, Chris might have insisted he tell him the truth.
Instead he said, “There have been unconfirmed reports of Grays on Earth. Does that mean they’re scouting my planet too?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
If so, there was a chance they’d wipe out all of humanity once they were done scouting. The more Chris learned, the worse he felt.
The first mate interrupted: “We’ve got something, Captain. It’s a ship, and it’s big.”
“Where is it?”
“It’s approaching us at speed.”
“Shit.”
“Should we jump?”
“No. Let’s see where this goes.”
Samda
The first mate said, “They’re attacking us. We need to move.”
“Just skip out of the way of whatever they throw at us and open a line of communication. This could take a while.”
The view on the floating holographic monitor changed by the second as the ship maneuvered to avoid the attacks. The attacking ship was big, maybe even larger than theirs, though it was almost impossible for Chris to tell one way or the other. He didn’t really know how big this ship was and it was tough to tell the size of the attacking ship without a frame of reference. It was flat and circular with large blocky protrusions at the top and tiny round portholes along the edges. It was silver, probably meaning it was simply unpainted metal. It was firing from three small guns mounted on a turret on top.
The first mate kept saying, “They’re not responding.”
The captain said nothing besides, “Keep at it. They’ll get tired or bored eventually.”
Chris had an image flash into his mind’s eye of one of those attacks succeeding and breaching the hull of the ship. He’d never had to wonder what it would be like to suffocate in space, but he did now. Then again, as far as he could tell, not a single shot had hit or damaged the ship.
The captain said, “These guys don’t give up. Open a one way communication to let them see that we’re not who they think we are.”
“Done.”
The captain put on his football helmet and said to the attackers, “We are not an enemy. We are explorers. Please stop firing upon us.”
“They’re hailing us,” the first mate said.
“Open it.”
The monitor flickered with static as the alien signal was converted. Then an image appeared on the monitor that was so odd that Chris couldn’t quite wrap his head around it. On the monitor was a female human. Well, she was almost human. She was hairless and her skin was a pale orange color. Her teeth were all fused together and her ears and nose were too small to see. But she was humanoid. She wore loose robes in a kaleidoscope of colors and her face was tattooed with black swirling markings, but she was the closest thing he’d seen to a human since he’d boarded the ship.
She said, “I apologize for attacking your ship. I assumed you were the Grays returning to finish us off.”
“We are a research vessel. We were stunned to see your planet in ruins. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
She smiled sadly. “It’s funny. There were those who tried to warn us that the Grays existed and that they were among us, but we didn’t believe them. We thought they were delusional, or just simple crack-pots. We thought the Grays were a fairy tale.”
The captain nodded solemnly. “How many of your people are left?”
Chris couldn’t be sure, but he thought he heard a hint of expectation in the captain’s robotic voice.
The female avoided answering the question. “My name is Samda. Who are you?”
“You can call me Captain.”
Samda chuckled reflexively. “Okay then, Captain. What do you want?”
“We need a sample of DNA from one of your people, Samda. We need a live specimen for our grand experiment.”
Samda laughed heartily. She said more soberly, “So even though I just told you that my species has nearly been wiped out, you want to deplete our ranks even more by taking one of us? I don’t think so.”
The captain laughed as Samda vanished from view. The monitor now showed the inside of a darkened and cavernous ship.
The first mate said, “Got her, Captain.”
Snatch and Grab
Samda was going crazy in the little holding cell. She yelled, “Let me go or you’ll all die!”
The captain snickered and said to Chris, “Didn’t she already try that?”
He was right. The alien ship she’d come from was no match for the one they were on. It couldn’t move the same way.
The captain adjusted his football helmet translation device and said sternly, “This cannot be undone. You are with us now. Your mission of revenge against the Grays is over. Our mission supersedes yours.”
“Fuck you. This is a crime.”
“Not from our perspective.”
Samda threw her oversized body at a wall and it actually buckled from the impact.
The first mate asked, “Is she strong enough to get out?”
“I don’t think so. But best to knock this one out I think.”
The first mate nodded at his men and said, “Pull up the intel and see if her species can be subdued chemically. If it can be, make it happen.”
Soon enough, a white mist descended from the ceiling of the cell.
Samda coughed and struggled but it was no use. She curled up in a fetal position on the floor and started to sob uncontrollably, her multi-colored robes twisted around her body as she writhed futilely.
It made Chris’ heart break. This time it appeared as though the captain and his men were the bad guys. Maybe they were just zealots, unconcerned with how they achieved their objective so long as they did, but in Chris’ mind, that still made them the bad guys.
When Samda stopped moving, the captain ordered, “Send in a bot to administer the pills and the translator.”
Within a minute, a small hatch opened at the base of one of the cell walls and a boxy little robot wheeled inside. It placed three pills in Samda’s mouth and worked them down her throat. Then it placed the translator inside and left through the same hatch.
The captain asked his first mate, “Is her ship making any moves?”
“It’s dead in the water, Captain.”
“Maybe she was alone?”
“Should we scout it out?”
“Why? We got what we came for. We only have a couple specimens left to get and I don’t need distractions like that to put us off of our mission.”
Chris asked, “Aren’t you curious?”
“About what? We’ve seen everything, Earth-man.”
Last of her Kind
As Samda started to come back to consciousness, Chris asked the captain, “Aren’t you worried that you won’t have the right mix of DNA to make this god-like creature? What if you need the DNA of a species that’s not even around yet? What about all the future apex species? What about apex species that died off long ago?” He wondered why the aliens hadn’t already thought about that. Could they be so car
eless?
“We’ve considered all of the possibilities and we’re confident that what we’re doing is in and of itself overkill.”
“Well then, if it’s overkill, then maybe your mission is done. Maybe you don’t need some of us.” He said it hopefully, but the captain dashed all of his hopes.
“The mission will be carried out as it was planned. No deviation shall take place.”
“Damn it.”
“You ask too many questions, Earth-man.” To his first mate he said, “As soon as we’re done with this specimen, I want you to have someone fix the Earth-man’s stasis pod.”
“By someone, you mean me, right?” the first mate said defiantly.
The captain ignored the first mate’s feeble attempt at an argument. “I don’t care. Have Number Three or Four do it for all I care. Just get it done. This guy is annoying the shit out of me.”
“Yes, Captain,” the first mate said sullenly.
Chris’ face flushed. He suddenly felt very small and insignificant.
On the monitor, Samda got to her feet and yawned languidly.
Something in the pills or in the translator had a calming effect, Chris knew, because he felt it too. An experience of this magnitude should have rendered him immobile, but he was mostly taking it in stride.
Samda said lazily, “I was alone on my ship. I might be the last of my kind. You can’t do this to me. I have to keep looking for survivors or else my race is lost forever.”
The captain took his translator helmet off and said, “I doubt there were any survivors. We were exceedingly lucky to find you. I’ll be damned if I let you go.”
Just then Samda doubled over and vomited at her feet. The pills purged her that way, Chris guessed.
She wiped her mouth and stood tall. Her torso filled the entire monitor. She looked bigger than the huge lizard that had been inside the cell earlier. “The Grays are still looking for me. I hope they succeed and wipe you bastards out along with me.”
“Now that’s not nice, Samda. The Grays are advanced, but not like we are. They’d have to send an entire fleet to outmaneuver this ship.”
“I’ve seen what the Grays can do. Look at what’s left of my planet. Imagine your own planet that way. The Grays are brutally efficient. They might have already infiltrated your people. For once, I hope they succeed and kill you all.”
“The Grays would stand little chance against us. They pose no danger worth worrying about. As a matter of fact, we have a Gray on board this very ship, and he’s no threat at all.”
Samda’s jaw tightened. “I’d like to see this Gray of yours.”
“I’m not stupid. You won’t be getting within ten feet of its stasis pod.”
Samda’s head dropped and the captain ordered, “Bring her up here.”
Questioning the
Mission
The holding cell door opened and Samda was subjected to the cleansing process as she made her way down the corridor. Again, Chris noticed just how big she was. She was easily ten feet tall, and proportionate, which meant she was much broader than he was. He sure hoped she wasn’t still upset when she got to the command station.
The captain asked his first mate, “What does the intel say about her race’s strength, ferocity, agility, and wits?”
The first mate shook his head and said, “She’ll be hotheaded, but she’s from a reasonably intelligent race that is mostly peaceful. It’s too late to take precautions anyway. She’s already at the door.”
The captain nodded and told Chris to stand back as he headed for the door.
As it slid open, the captain reached his armored robotic arm through and grabbed Samda by the throat. He dragged her inside as she struggled in vain.
Her body was immense. She must have weighed half a ton and yet she stood no chance against the captain. Her face was contorted with rage and exertion, but it did her no good.
The captain pushed her into a corner and said, “There’s no one inside this suit except for my consciousness, so you can bet your ass I can do this all day.”
Her struggles slowed until she finally wilted and submitted.
The captain released her and said, “It’s fortunate that we found you. You’re only worried about your race, but our worries are broader in scope. We’re worried about the end of the universe. We need you to stop it from happening.”
Her hairless brow scrunched up and she asked, “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
The captain sighed. “We are going to create a hybrid life form out of the DNA of every intelligent creature in the universe. That creature will be so advanced that it’ll be able to recreate our very existence. It’ll be able to give the universe perpetuity.”
“That sounds like bullshit. How can you be so sure it’ll work?”
“Because we came close once, many years ago.” There was a haunting sadness in the captain’s voice as he recalled the past.
The first mate looked at the floor and shuffled his feet uncomfortably.
Chris had assumed this was their first attempt at something of this scale.
The captain continued: “The problem was that we didn’t have any DNA from outside of our own galaxy. We thought we had more than enough to achieve our goal. We were wrong. The being we created from the relatively small sampling of DNA was limited. It could alter the weather. It could freeze water with a thought. It could rearrange molecules into whatever it wanted. It could predict the future, to a degree. But it could only do those things locally. It was too weak because we didn’t have enough DNA to make it greater. We now have a million times more DNA to work with. We were close before, but this time we’re taking no chances.”
“What if you need DNA that hasn’t even developed yet?”
Chris stepped forward and said, “That’s what I said.”
Samda gave him a quizzical look and asked the captain, “Who’s the little guy?”
“He’s another specimen, close in biology to your own people. He’s a male from a planet called Earth.”
“Well, he’s right. How can you know you only need DNA from right now?”
“We’ve run the numbers and the truth is that we’re pretty sure we already have a large enough sampling to achieve our ends. But like I said, we have to be sure. We can’t afford to fail again.”
“Okay then. You can take a skin scraping and a vial of blood and then you can let me leave.”
“Sorry. You’re coming with us. You are going to have to go into stasis for now. I’ll revive you when we’re done collecting.”
The Gray
Samda tried to struggle again but it was no use.
She pointed at Chris and yelled, “Why does he get to stay here but I don’t?”
“Because his pod is damaged.”
The captain dragged her kicking and screaming from the command station towards the stasis room.
Chris knew he was right to be apprehensive now. He wasn’t the only specimen who was questioning the alien’s plans. And he wasn’t the only one afraid of stasis.
A few minutes after Samda had been dragged away, a siren went off. It was alien in pitch and frequency, but there was no doubt in Chris’ mind that it meant something bad was about to happen on the ship.
The captain’s voice came out over the unseen speakers. He yelled, “That lizard must have damaged the Gray’s pod when he damaged the Earth-man’s. I didn’t notice it until now. The Gray escaped before I could contain the situation. Find him before he does too much damage. I’m still struggling with the girl.”
“Shit,” Chris whispered. The Grays were evil. The Gray escapee might try and destroy the ship. This was not good.
The first mate barked out an order to Number Three and Number Four. “Get that Gray under control as fast as you can. We all know how destructive they can be.”
Number Four fiddled with the alien instruments on his panel. He turned around and quickly said, “The sensors picked him up in stasis room eighty-seven.”
“He�
�s quick. Get up there and subdue him right away.”
Chris was a little surprised to hear about a stasis room eighty-seven. But it explained why this huge ship was necessary. It had to be big to hold all its captives. It was like Noah’s ark, but for alien life from across the universe. He’d been overwhelmed by the select few species he’d already seen. His imagination wasn’t equipped to wonder what all the rest might look like.
Number Three and Number Four ran off and the first mate said to Chris, “Stay here Earthman. I’ll be right back.”
Chris nodded his head and tried to smile reassuringly, but his mouth would not obey the command so his upper lip just twitched, making him appear insane.
The first mate patted him on the shoulder reassuringly and then he ran off too.
Chris felt foreboding as soon as he was left alone. He was small compared to these creatures, and defenseless. It was cowardly, but he couldn’t help but think they should’ve left someone behind to protect him. If he was as important to the experiment as they said he was, they should’ve made sure to keep him safe.
No sooner had the first mate left the command station than an overhead ventilation grate slowly hinged open and the Gray’s head appeared from inside.
Chris wanted to scream out or react in any way but he was frozen with fear.
The Gray dropped to the floor as agile as a cat, right beside Chris’ quivering body.
Chris squealed like a pig and shuffled backwards, but the Gray simply ignored him as though he were nothing but an insect, not worth bothering with.
The Gray approached the command modules and began to fiddle with switches and knobs. It was surprisingly adept at what it was doing.
A few seconds later, Number Three’s robotic voice called over the speakers: “We have a fire in the sample bay.”
The Gray chuckled and turned on Chris. It said, “I just burned their backup samples.” Then he pointed his long thin finger at the monitor that showed Samda’s ship.
