by Jeff Sims
Lorano and Carank walked to the front of the ship, deactivated the force field, and entered the cage in the main hold. No one initially saw them, so Lorano yelled, “Hellooo.”
One of the humans noticed Lorano. He notified the others and in a couple of minutes all 20 humans were gathered around the cage. Lorano said, “Hello humans. I need to tell you something.”
The humans waited silently, so Lorano continued, “In the next few minutes we will approach our final destination. Our ship will dock with an Alliance vessel, probably a cruiser. You will then be transferred to that vessel. You can cross into the new ship one-at-a-time or we can shoot you with a stunner and carry you to the other ship while you sleep. Are there any questions?”
Lorano was shivering with fear. Being this close to so many humans made him extremely nervous. He looked over at Carank and noticed that he was also looking a little green.
One of the humans responded. Lorano thought it was possibly the one he had spoken to earlier, but he couldn’t tell. They all looked the same to him. The human said, “How long have we been traveling?”
Carank said, “That’s an odd question, why do you want to know that?”
The human responded, “Just curious. When we jump in the simulation there is a time delay. We just wondered if it was true in real life.”
Lorano responded, “Yes, There is approximately a 10 to 1 time dilation. When we spend an hour in hyperspace, 10 hours pass in real time. Our voyage seemed to us to have lasted just under 11 days, but in reality it lasted 22 accounting for the time we spent in hyperspace.”
Another asked, “Is the Alliance really in trouble from evil aliens?”
Lorano looked at Carank, who was looking at him. There were so many answers to give to this question. He really didn’t know exactly how to respond. After a moment he said, “Yes.”
Carank said, “Let me explain. When we left four months ago, there had only been isolated attacks. However, we believe that hostilities may have intensified. I believe though that we will find a peaceful resolution to the current crisis.”
The human responded, “Then why do you need us?”
Carank responded, “Well, it is as the simulation stated. We do have a shortage of pilots and need to know if humanity can assist. Our mission was two-fold. We were also evaluating whether Earth has matured enough to join the Alliance.”
The human responded, “How did we do?”
Lorano added, “Individual humans seem to be able to handle the concept of aliens, but overall humanity still needs a little time. Back to the first question, will you go in an orderly fashion?”
The human responded, “Yes, we understand that resistance at this point would be futile. We will comply. You will not have to stun us.”
Lorano handed Jim a data cube through the bars and said, “This cube contains all of the fighter simulations that you have been running. When you get on the new ship, you can load the scenarios into the computer in one of the fighters. Then you can sit in the fighters, don the flight helmet, and run a simulation. The fighters will function just like simulators.”
Jim said, “Thank you.”
Carank said, “Also, please take everything that you want from the hold. Take the games and the entertainment system. Anything left aboard this ship will be discarded.”
Carank and Lorano left the hold, reactivated the force shield, and returned to the control room. Carank turned back on the transponder. Lorano double checked everything and started fiddling with a human calculator. Finally, Victor said, “Engage” and Crista pressed the button to engage the hyperdrive.
The Vista made the short 14 minute jump from their present location to Conron. Upon exit, they sailed straight between the two automated protection platforms. They were immediately hailed by the automated traffic control station. The foursome cheered a moment later when they were hailed by the Sunflower. Victor let the ship answer the automated hail from traffic control and personally answered the hail from the Sunflower.
Captain Solear said, “Hello Victor, Welcome to Conron. When we got the message, we really didn’t expect you to make it. There was an accident at the mining platform and it resulted in the hyperspace lane becoming contaminated. It had to be permanently closed. How did you make it through?”
Victor lied. He said, “Well, Lorano manipulated time by altering gravity to allow the ship to pre-detect gravity fluctuations. We then either steered through them or jumped around them and continued. No real problem.”
Solear thought for a moment and responded, “I didn’t think that was possible.”
Victor said, “Lorano is right here. I can have him transfer over and explain it to you in vivid detail if you would like.”
Solear responded, “No, no, that’s fine. Are we ready to begin passenger transfer?”
Victor responded. “Yes, I will align my freighter with your hold. The humans will transfer in an orderly fashion one at a time. They have promised there will be no issues.”
Solear said, “Wow, how did you accomplish that?”
Victor said, “Simple, we asked them nicely.”
Solear gave a mighty frown at that, but didn’t respond further. Instead he asked, “Do they know how to fly fighters?”
Victor said, “Yes, these 20 are some of the better ones that we tested. They all passed the Alliance pilot’s test and are certified fighter pilots. All that you need to do is swear them into the military.”
Solear pressed, “But do you really think they will fight for us?”
Victor responded, “Yes, I truly think they will.”
Meanwhile, the Vista downloaded the news feeds from control. It then sent control the falsified log showing its recent hyperspace jump from Earth.
… (Control) Yo…
… (Ship) Holla…
… (Control) How ya been…
… (Ship) Just chillin on Earth, no big thang…
… (Control) Well, here are all the boring updates plus your being’s new orders. In other news, I got to blow something up. No big deal tho…
… (Ship) Cool, say, here are the updated coordinates to Earth and my recent flight path. You should totally upload and publish them as immediate updates, or whatevs…
… (Control) Dude, these new coordinates for Earth are way different than the previous ones. I can’t even…
… (Ship) Hey, they’re legit. Maybe the planet moved. Who knows, right…
… (Control) Yeah, I probably blew the whole solar system off the charts. I rock…
Victor carefully piloted the Vista toward the Sunflower. He eased the ship into position alongside the other vessel and stopped when he was a few meters from it. The Sunflower extended a docking tube to the hatch in the Vista’s main hold. The docking tube looked similar to an extendable walkway used to board airplanes. This tube was airtight, but did not have gravity, so the humans would have to swim across in freefall.
Jim Donovan went first. He grabbed his bag and stepped into the passageway. He did not expect the sudden transition to weightlessness. He tripped and wound up bouncing from ceiling to floor across the entire hallway.
Ace yelled into the corridor, “You should change your call sign to Pinball.”
Jim unceremoniously dropped into the corridor and saw that it was empty. Some greeting, he thought. He noticed that there were force fields blocking every passageway. He could tell from the red lines of light that periodically flowed from the top to the bottom directly in front of every doorway.
Jim yelled back into the corridor, “Come on through, turn to the right and follow the caribou on your left. Be careful of the doorways though, they are protected by force fields.”
Jim walked the length of the main corridor and admired the amazing painting on the walls. He wondered how the painter had been able to get the caribou to run beside him and the sunflowers to wave in the breeze.
Jim entered the hangar and saw the 20 fighters. They were sitting in 4 rows of 5 and took up nearly the entire bay. He coul
dn’t believe it. The fighters were actually there. The last couple of weeks had been surreal, but seeing the fighters sitting there made everything snap into reality.
In the simulations the fighters were stored 5 deep in 4 shafts that went up and down like an elevator. He assumed they were parked on the main deck for some unknown purpose. He walked over and looked at one in detail. He absentmindedly ran his hand along its hull. After a couple of minutes, he climbed into the cockpit and sat down.
Jim thought about the starting the fighter and donning the flight helmet. He wanted to hear the battle computer whispering in his brain. He fought the urge and instead exited the fighter and searched the rest of the hangar. He quickly found the pilot’s quarters. He was surprised that they were very similar to the ones on the Vista. He thought they must have had the same decorator. By this time the other pilots had joined him in the hangar.
Ace was the last one to leave the Vista. He had watched 19 others go through and had learned from their mistakes. He began jogging, leaped, and flew feet first through the passageway. He landed squarely on his feet on the other side and was applauded by the pilots still in the main hallway. The moment Ace passed into the hangar the force field snapped into place; effectively trapping them in the hangar area.
None of them seemed to mind though as they raced around the area, claiming fighters and bunks with equal enthusiasm. After an hour everyone had settled down. Russ had found a pre-flight maintenance checklist. Since there were no maintenance workers in the area, the pilots decided to perform the checklist themselves. The pilot simulation did not cover maintenance, so they enjoyed learning something new.
The bridge officers had been watching the humans through remote monitors since they boarded two hours ago. Solear said, “Commander, they seem to have calmed down. I think we should go address them.”
Arean answered, “Maybe we could just call them from here.” Arean really didn’t want to go into the room. He knew that he would eventually have to do so though. After all, he was their commanding officer. He figured that he was the first Alliance commander who feared his own men more than the enemy.
Captain Solear said, “Clowy, we are going down. Keep a close watch on us. If we are killed, gas the humans, put them in stasis chambers and return immediately to Advranki Prime.”
“Captain,” Ella asked nervously.
“Yes.”
“There are only 5 stasis chambers on the bridge and 5 in medical. Where do we put the other 10?”
Solear waved his hands in frustration and said, “Just jam two of them into each stasis pod.”
Ella asked, “Do you really think that is necessary?”
Captain Solear responded, “Yes. Computer, make my last statement a standing order in the event of my death at this meeting.”
…Order recorded…
Solear felt they could delay no longer. He said, “Lexxi, you are in charge of the force fields. Please activate all of the ones in the main corridor when we deactivate the one to the hangar. Understood?” He thought he would try for a verbal confirmation.
Lexxi responded, “Why do you hate me?”
Solear wasn’t entirely sure how to judge the response, so he ignored and instead tried something else. He said, “Lexxi, how do you feel about having humans aboard?”
She responded, “I think it is stupid and will get me killed. Everyone knows that humans prefer to eat young women.”
She started reaching for her headphones, so Solear figured the conversation was over. Solear hadn’t heard that particular fact about the humans, but briefly considered tossing her and Clowy in the hangar to test the theory.
He said, “Arean, it’s time, let’s go.”
Arean and Solear walked out of the immediate bridge area and through the doorway into the main, caribou corridor. The moment Arean’s trailing foot passed into the corridor the force field activated. Solear was impressed with the efficiency that Lexxi was displaying for this particular task. He was a little surprised she hadn’t closed the massive, armored door that isolated the bridge from the rest of the ship. He thought she probably would have closed it too if she had known it existed.
Arean approached the doorway to the hangar and stopped. He seemed to have trouble pressing the button on the communicator pad to release the force field. Finally, Captain Solear took out his own pad and released it. Solear walked into the hangar and noted that Arean was closely following him. The moment they entered the hangar the field was activated behind them. Well, Solear thought, Lexxi is certainly fast, if nothing else.
One of the humans saw them approaching and started yelling. In just a few brief moments all of the other humans reacted to the call and came running. Solear stopped in dead in his tracks and felt Arean bump into him. Solear was pinned in fear as he watched the humans assemble.
Then, all 20 of the humans started running toward him. Solear thought, ‘Well, I had a good life’. He looked and noted that Arean had his finger on the sleeping gas activation button. He tried to say wait, but he was already falling asleep.
Solear woke about an hour later. He noted that he was lying comfortably in the infirmary and Arean was in the bed next to him. He gingerly got up and swung his legs out of bed. His arms and legs ached and he felt groggy. He tried to shake himself back to consciousness.
The medical attendant gave him a brief examination and declared him fit to return to duty. By this time Arean had also woken up and was shaking himself. Solear looked over at him and said, “I don’t think I like getting gassed.”
Arean smiled and said, “Well, it was certainly better than the alternative. Did you see the mad look on their faces? One human is big and strong enough to kill us, but they gathered all 20 in a pack before attacking.”
Solear grabbed his communication pad and watched the video of the encounter. He noted that the first one didn’t charge. He indeed collected all of the others before leading the attack. Solear said, “Computer, review the humans actions against historical footage and provide an analysis.”
…Scanning. Scanning. Unable to determine the pilots’ motivation…
Solear turned to the medical attendant and said, “Jetlag, how are the humans?”
Jetlag responded, “I don’t know. We raced in, pulled you two out, and reactivated the force field. We had no idea how long the humans would stay asleep.”
Solear said, “So you left them collapsed on the hangar deck?”
Jetlag nodded in agreement for she had already answered this question.
Solear activated his communication pad and checked the cameras in the hangar bay. The humans had also woken up, for they were no longer scattered around the deck. He checked their vital signs and concluded that all 20 were still alive. Good, he thought. He didn’t want to have to explain to admiral Dolen that he had accidentally killed one of them.
Solear turned to Arean and said, “We have to back there, now.”
They walked back down the caribou corridor and to the entrance of the hangar. They checked the hangar and determined that it was empty. All of the humans were in the sleeping area. Solear activated the force field to the sleeping quarters and they walked about ¾ of the distance across the bay. They stopped directly in front of the entryway.
Again, one of the humans spotted them and shouted to the others. This time though, the humans responded much slower. Solear assumed that they too were still feeling the effects of the sleeping gas. The humans had formed a single file line facing the doorway to the hangar.
Arean said, “That seems a little better.”
Solear said, “Yes. They seem a little calmer.” He pressed the button on his com pad and lowered the force field.
Solear watched as the humans slowly walked out of the dorm room in single file. This time they kept their arms at their sides and moved their legs in unison. Solear had never seen anything quite like it.
The humans stopped about 5 meters from Solear and formed two rows of 10. They then turned in unison to face each other an
d moved their right arms up so that their right hand was near their right eye. None of them were looking at him or even acknowledged him. It was creepy and he wanted to leave. He whispered into his pad, “Computer, what are they doing?”
…91.4%. They are saluting you. It is a sign of respect reserved for commanding officers..
Solear whispered again, “What do I do to make them stop?”
…91.3%. Say ‘at ease’ if you want to address them as a group or ‘return to your duties if you only want to talk to one of them…
Solear spoke as loudly as he could, “At ease.” The humans again moved in unison; this time putting their hands behind their backs and spreading their feet out a little. All 20 pairs of eyes turned and were now looking directly at him.
The humans didn’t move or speak. They just stood there staring at him. Solear couldn’t decide whether this was more or less creepy than the salute. Solear inadvertently took a step backwards and almost bumped into Arean. He wasn’t entirely sure why he had thought it was a good idea to address the humans in person. He really wanted to leave the hangar as quickly as possible. He looked down and saw that his thumb was hovering just over the gas canister activation command.
He mentally forced himself to try to relax and moved his thumb away from the sleeping gas command. He looked at the humans. They were at least a head taller than he was, but height wasn’t the only physical difference. Their trunks were much thicker and their shoulders were impossibly wide. Their arms were easily the size of his legs and one had arms that seemed to be bigger than his waist. Solear had always thought the story about a human being able to kill an Advranki with a single punch was farfetched. Seeing them in person quickly changed his mind.
The humans were still standing there staring at him. They hadn’t moved or talked. Solear realized that in order to address to the group, he would have to stand in the exact center of the two lines and be completely surrounded by them. He began slowly walking down the row. He felt like a man walking to his execution.
