by Adam Moon
“That’s the way I regard them. And I can usually trust my first instinct.”
“I just have a feeling there’s more to this than our captors have let on.”
“Now, I agree with you there. The captain hasn’t told us everything.”
Just then the captain’s voice called over the loudspeaker. “That’s enough gossip from you two. Get back to the command station.”
“Ah shit,” whispered Samda.
Chris sighed. “Busted.”
Walkabout
Samda purposely took a wrong turn as they made their way back. Chris was about to question her, but she smiled and said, “Those pricks aren’t spilling any info so let’s investigate for ourselves.”
“They’ll know we’re up to something.”
“All I want are answers. If they’re against that then that’s all the motivation I need to snoop around, and if they’re not, then they won’t care that we’re curious.”
Chris imagined they could be punished for snooping, but he agreed with Samda. Not knowing was a worse punishment than anything the captain might do to them.
Samda stopped at a large glass door and stared inside. The room was full of stasis pods, but they were all full of liquid. It was impossible to see inside any of them from their vantage point behind the door.
Samda sniffed the air with her tiny nose and said, “Those are methane-based life forms. I wonder how the crew plans to assimilate their DNA with ours.”
Chris shook his head. He tried the door but it was locked.
Samda mused, “The scientists back home would have done anything to see alien life like this. The only aliens we ever came across were the Grays, and that was right before they destroyed our world.”
Chris said, “My people still debate whether alien life is even possible. If I ever get back home, I’ll sure have a story to tell.”
Samda asked, “If we escape, would I be able to survive on your planet?”
“You want to come to Earth?”
“No, but I can’t go home the way it is and I don’t know of another habitable planet. If I had to go to Earth to survive, then I would.”
“The atmosphere is oxygen and carbon dioxide rich. The surface is covered in oceans of water with land masses splitting them. Food is plentiful if you live in the right parts of the world.”
“It sounds like paradise. Would I be able to fit in? I look different than you do.”
“You might be able to come up with a cover story. You could say you have gigantism or a birth defect of some exotic variety. But if you got discovered, you would be imprisoned and experimented on.”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take for a chance at a life. Would you take me with you?”
“If we get through with the experiment and the crew agrees to take me home, I’ll ask them to drop you off on Earth too.”
Samda looked at the floor. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. There are a lot of intangibles to get past before we can even consider what happens after the experiment.”
Samda nodded and said, “Thank you anyway.”
She walked away before Chris could speak on it further. He followed her to the end of the corridor where she was standing at another glass door. Inside were more stasis pods ranging in size from very small, like a shoebox, to very large, bigger than a truck. Liquid filled each one in that room too. Samda sniffed the air again and said, “They must be marine creatures.”
Chris tried the handle on that door but it wouldn’t open either. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say these things are prisoners with no chance at escape.”
“I have to agree.”
“The captain told me that many of the captives of heightened intelligence actually agreed that their experiment was important. I think they’d reconsider if they could see themselves locked inside a pod that’s locked inside a room.”
A booming voice came over the loudspeakers. It was the captain. “Get back here this instant. You’ve deviated enough.”
Chris whispered, “I’m getting sick of that bastard ordering me around.”
Samda whispered back, “You’re big enough to do something about that now.”
The thought frightened him, but it thrilled him too. He was no longer defenseless. But there was also a more rational part of him that knew Samda was trying to manipulate him.
Captain’s Rules
They walked into the command station together.
The captain glared after them and said, “You are a couple of suspicious, sneaky bastards. There’s nothing more I can do to alleviate your concerns. I told you what I can, and I even allowed you to snoop around my ship, and yet you’re still suspicious.”
Chris shrugged his mammoth shoulders and said, “It’s in my nature.”
“I know that, but it doesn’t mean I have to put up with it. Toe the line or suffer the consequences.”
Samda took a step towards the captain and barked, “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you will be put off of my ship, young lady. I can’t allow you to jeopardize this mission.”
“You said you need us alive.”
“I prefer you live but if it comes right down to it, a skin scraping and a vial of blood will suffice.”
Samda said angrily, “Just because we’re curious about your motives, you might kill us?”
“Not at all. I would only put you off my ship if I thought you were hindering the mission. Your constant snooping is an annoyance now, but if you keep it up and it gets in the way of what we’re doing, it will not be tolerated.”
“This mission sure is important to you. Why is that?”
“It’s important to you too. This mission could mean the difference between life having no meaning at all and it being a precious, meaningful experience. The death of the universe is the death of hope. It’s the death of a future. It renders life pointless and futile. This mission could nullify all of that and give meaning to the meaningless.”
“Why do you care? That won’t happen for a long time.”
“But the inevitability of it is an ever-present danger. There is no point to my people advancing themselves if they’re destined for certain doom. The same goes for all living creatures.”
Samda opened her mouth to continue the argument but the captain said, “That’s enough. We have work to do. Try and make yourself scarce until we’re done.”
For the first time Chris noticed a greenish blue planet on the monitor.
The first mate said to the captain, “Time’s up. I’m gonna just grab one of them.”
“Is the holding cell prepped?”
“As much as is necessary.”
“Okay then, go ahead.”
Mission
Accomplished
A crab-like creature appeared in the holding cell. The holding cell was full of water now, and the purple crab swam around erratically. It had two eyes and a gaping maw full of sharp teeth. Its armored body was covered in fine purple hairs. At the end of each appendage was a hand with little suckers for finger-tips and it had various markings all over its body that did not appear natural, as if the creature had marked its own skin with images, but they were difficult for Chris to make out. It also looked as though it had metallic bracelets or something on two of its appendages. As Chris looked more closely, he saw that each had a display but the displays were blank.
The captain said to the first mate, “He’s aquatic, so just flush him into a pod and we’ll administer the purging agents and cleansers while he’s in stasis.”
“That’s against regulations. Plus, I think this one is female.”
“I don’t care. We’re done. I just want to go home.”
The first mate said enthusiastically, “Are we really done? I thought we had a couple loose ends.”
“We do, but I don’t have the desire to go back for them under the circumstances. This is more than we need and you know it.”
Number Four said, “The crea
ture has been flushed and put under. Should I jump home instead of circling back?”
“Yes!” the first mate said eagerly. “We’re done. We get to go home.”
Chris said, “What does that mean for me?”
The captain sighed. “You can stay in the mech for now, but we’ll need it back as soon as we arrive at our final destination.”
Chris didn’t have a stomach, but he knew that if he did, it would be upset, giving him fits of ulcer-induced pain.
Samda sidled over to him and whispered, “If we’re going to make a move, we should make it soon.”
Chris looked at her incredulously. “We’re not going to make a move. We’re going to see this through and hope these guys take us home.”
“That’s a crappy plan, Earthman.”
“It’s the only safe plan available.”
Outpost Planet Eight
The ship appeared above a dirty-looking planet. On the night side it was completely dark with no unnatural lights shining. Chris could only assume that the dark side of the planet was unpopulated. The day side didn’t have much more going for it. It appeared brown and dusty.
A large ship approached and hailed them. The ship was fitted with huge cannons, and was ominous enough that it looked as though the ship itself wanted nothing more than to blow them to bits.
An image appeared on the monitor. When she saw it, Samda jumped backwards and Chris said, “Shit.”
A mech just like theirs stared back at them on the screen, but it looked to be designed for war.
The captain was not surprised. He said, “This is the collector ship, returning from our mission.”
The mech said enthusiastically, “It’s good to see you, Captain. You’re ahead of schedule.”
“We were forced to omit certain species because of the Gray threat.”
“Those bastards gave you grief, huh?”
“We expected no less from them. But we have all that we need to accomplish our grand experiment.”
“Land whenever you’re ready, sir. She’ll be pleased to see you.”
“I sure hope so. How is she?”
“That’s not for me to say. You’ll see for yourself when you land.”
“Wish us luck.”
“You got it, Captain. We’ll guard the skies until it’s done. Good luck.”
“Thank you.”
The first mate blurted out, “How are our bodies?”
“Frosty and perfectly intact. I hope for your sakes that your mission was a success or you might never see them again.”
Initial Descent
The Collector descended towards the planet.
As they broke the cloud cover, the captain said to Samda, “I have a favor to ask of you. We’ll need help off-loading the pods when we land. If I gave you a mechanized unit like Chris’, would you help us?”
“I didn’t think there were any left.”
“There should be a few in storage on the surface. What do you say?”
She looked at Chris and said, “Is it safe?”
“Just make sure they scrub the last occupant’s thoughts away first. If they don’t, you’ll go nuts.”
“That explains things,” she said teasingly.
Then she replied to the captain, “I’ll do it. I have a request of my own though. When you’re done with us, I’d like you to drop me off on Earth with Chris. My planet’s inhospitable, and from what Chris tells me, his planet will be sufficient.”
The captain argued, “There are variables you haven’t considered. There are viruses and microbes on Earth that you have no defenses against, should they find a way to attack you. You are similar to humans, but not so much that they won’t be able to tell that you aren’t one of them. You would be treated like a side-show freak if they see you for what you are. There are too many negatives for me to agree to your request.”
The first mate said condescendingly to his captain, “Are you kidding me? Of course she can be returned with the Earthman. Just agree and let’s get on with what’s important.”
The captain growled in mock anger, “Fine, you’re right.” To Samda he added, “We can inoculate you against most of what could kill you on Earth.”
“Okay then. I’m willing to lend a hand.”
“Good. We’ll bring a unit aboard and then you’ll transfer over. Don’t worry, they’re all scrubbed and ready to wear.”
The Whole, Ugly Truth
Chris asked the captain, “Who are we going to meet? Is she your leader?
The first mate gave his captain a concerned look.
The captain said, “She is the greatest living being in the universe. She is the result of our first grand experiment.”
“So she’s the pseudo-god you told us about? I guess I thought you destroyed the results when they didn’t live up to your expectations.”
The captain whispered, “If only it was that easy.”
The first mate added, “She’s the one who helped us design this ship to jump around the universe. She’s the one who recommended which species we collect. She’s the only one who cares anymore about creating one true god.”
The captain said to his first mate, “Are you telling me that you don’t care about the mission anymore?”
“I stopped caring after we saw what happened last time. I’ve been conflicted about what this experiment will yield ever since then.”
“But last time we failed. This time we won’t.”
The first mate smiled. “Don’t let her hear you say that she’s a failed experiment. You know what she’ll do.”
The captain nodded and said to Samda and Chris, “If she approaches you, give her your utmost respect and say as little as possible. She’s temperamental and prone to overreaction.”
The first mate added, “What he means is that if she doesn’t like what you say, she’ll kill you on the spot. She’s a neurotic bitch.”
The captain ordered, “Everyone is to be on their best behavior. If this all works out the way it’s supposed to, we’ll all benefit from it. Just hold your tongues long enough to see it through.”
Number Four said, “I’m actually excited. It’s not every day you get to play a part in the birth of a god.”
The first mate whispered, “Hopefully it’s a real god this time.”
A Secret Revealed
As the ship broke the cloud cover, several black bird-like creatures swarmed them. They swept in and out, up and down.
The captain said, “Don’t worry. They’re just drones making sure this isn’t a Gray attack ship. They’ll check our transponder and then be on their way.”
On closer inspection, Chris saw that the drones were in fact metallic and armed to the teeth. A Gray ship would have little hope of infiltrating this planet with all of these drones and the scout ships above the cloud layer.
The drones buzzed off as they made their final descent.
The first mate whispered to his captain, “You need to tell them the truth before they discover it for themselves.”
Samda overheard him and said, “What are you talking about?”
The captain hung his head and said, “I only tell you this so that you don’t overreact when you find out.” The captain paused, still unsure how to phrase what he was trying to say. Finally, when the tension in the room was at saturation level, he continued: “My species is cousin to the Grays. We used to be the same species until we broke away from them. So when we land and you see a bunch of creatures that look remarkably similar to Grays, don’t go on a killing spree of revenge. We are not the same.”
Samda paused, unsure if the captain was tricking her with his story. “Why did you split with them?”
“It had a lot to do with this experiment, but it had more to do with the last failed experiment. They wanted to put the experiment to bed, but we knew that we had only seen the tip of the iceberg. We were encouraged by our results the last time around. When the other Grays suggested we should destroy our results and forget about ever conducting the t
ests again, we had no choice but to act. Nearly a thousand of us acted against our own people. We rebelled. We retrieved our false god and we went on the run. We were of the belief that you do not kill a god, even if it doesn’t live up to your expectations. As it turns out, she wouldn’t have been so easily dispatched anyway. But we didn’t know that at the time.”
The first mate interjected: “Our new god led us to this planet, and before we knew it, she had enslaved us. We thought she might be appreciative, but that’s because we were idealists and naïve. She immediately put us to work on an experiment far more ambitious than the one that had created her. Instead of collecting an apex specimen from each habitable planet within our galaxy, we were to collect one from each planet in the entire universe. A few of us insisted that she was a lunatic and that her ideas were impossible. Those people were put to death in front of the rest of us.”
The captain bowed his head as he remembered.
The first mate continued, “Then she set out to show us how it could be done. And it turned out she was right, because here we are, with all that she asked for. We will now be able to achieve our lofty goals with a little help from her tough love and guidance.”
Samda said, “If she’s as cruel and reckless as I imagine, how can you be sure these results won’t yield something even more dastardly?”
The captain said, “This new experiment will bring the desired results. We underestimated the breadth of what was necessary when we created her. We failed back then. She’ll pale in comparison to our new creation. It will be ideal and wholly different from what she became.”
Number Four added, “Some of us think she just wants us to make her a mate.”
The rest of the crew ignored the offhand comment.
Something about the story was bothering Chris. He asked, “If you split away from the Grays, then why were you so eager to get their DNA? Couldn’t you just use your own?”
