by James Porter
“Oh shit!” Moot opened the hatch fully so he could take aim, as this was an all or nothing situation. If that RPG hit the ship that would probably be the end of the rocket, the alien, the hostages and Moot. He couldn’t allow that to happen. “You dumb SOB’s!” He took aim and started firing at the helicopter, his shots bouncing off the armored craft. “Come on!” He slapped in another clip as the agent with the RPG tried to take aim, amidst the incoming fire. Agent Moot fired as fast as he could pull the trigger, it was all or nothing now. His shots rang out against the metal skin until one shot hit something inside the open bay and bounced off and into the cockpit. The front windshield was assaulted from the inside by a spray of red and the helicopter jerked to the left and down. The sudden motion caused the other agent to not only lose his balance, but to inadvertently fire his RPG. The explosive projectile left a spiral trail of smoke as it barreled past the rocket ship, missing it by a matter of inches. The helicopter spun slowly as it fell to the Earth and as it made contact with the ground it burst into flames and then exploded. Agent Moot watched the explosion blossom from the initial crash and quickly closed the hatch to shield himself from the flames. He sat down and tried to catch his breath as he looked around the small cargo hold. The bluish white light revealed a multitude of crates and barrels all stacked and organized in some sort of logical order. He took a few steps and was surprised at how dizzy he had suddenly become. He reached out to a nearby stack of boxes to steady himself and noticed his arm and hand were covered in blood.
“I think I’ve been shot…” He then promptly passed out.
The hatchway opened and in came Star and her recent acquisition, Alan. They hurried inside and the hatch closed behind them. That’s when the gunfire started.
“Whoever’s out there is pretty pissed off” Bud said rather calmly.
“Those idiots are going to kill us all!” Lori had instinctively jumped behind Jake as the noise had started and he had welcomed the chance to at least feel like he was protecting her.
Alan looked around at the other humans on board and wondered what he had gotten himself into.
They all watched as Star pushed past them and went to the cockpit and settled in for the task at hand.
“Hold on, you said you were going to let us know what was going on.” Jake pressed her for information when Bud joined in.
“You said we would get to make a choice?” He looked at Star as she continued to ignore them.
“Who’s going to take care of Gwendolyn?” Misty started to tear up again
“What is going on here? For the record.” Lori asked in her interviewers tone.
“All of you, please do be quiet and strap yourselves to a seat, this may get a little bumpy.” Star pointed to where the seats were and then turned back to what she had been doing.
The startled humans looked at her like she had just told them to eat their firstborn child, then they all sauntered over to the seats and obediently strapped themselves in.
It got very bumpy indeed.
Chapter 18
Star had ignored the clamor of questions from around her as she proceeded to the cockpit of the ship. Once her guests had strapped themselves in she turned and addressed them.
“I don’t have time to answer your queries at the moment, it is imperative that we distance ourselves from the conflict outside.” She then started punching buttons, turning dials and bringing the ship to life. As the systems clicked through there startup cycles, the ship rocked with the explosion from outside, Star punched the engine button and contributed her own fire to the wreckage of the helicopter. The ship lurched and slowly made its egress off the planet’s surface. It rose into the air leaving a trail of fire and smoke in its wake. The ship lurched and rocked its way into the air and the passengers were grateful they had buckled in. As they gained altitude, Star set the autopilot to find an orbit and stay there. She then turned towards the frightened and anxious individuals now clamoring for her attention.
“Okay, we are heading into orbit now. That means it is time to discuss our mission.” She was not real thrilled having to leave the planet that quick, and who knows how long it will take those agents to figure out where she went. “Please, let’s move to the galley so were not all crowded into the cockpit.” She gestured at them to move into the slightly larger area. All of the individuals were talking all at once. “Please everyone, please quiet down and I will answer all your questions.”
“Where am I?” It was Misty, and she had a look of confusion and fear across her face. “Why have you kidnapped me? What did I do to deserve this?”
“Although technically, some of you have been kidnapped, I am offering you a choice.” Star had maneuvered them into the galley and had been gesturing for them to sit. Once they were all seated they calmed down and faced her with expectant looks. “As for where we are, we are on a rocket ship in orbit around your planet. And as for why I have kidnapped you, it’s because I need your help.” There were some murmurs around the table but they still wanted to hear more. “My planet is a world of death and destruction, not because of a violent or destructive people,” She looked at misty as she said that, “But because the planet itself does not want us there.” Star could see the looks of disbelief at what she had said, but she continued talking anyways. “We had the misfortune of having to leave a peaceful planet due to a season of extreme solar flares that would have surely destroyed my people. We crashed on another planet and this one did not like us at all.” She remembered the way the planet had quickly built up its defenses against them. “The planet is in a state of hyper evolution, and the evolutionary pressure that it is using to shape its flora and fauna is the hatred of my people.” There was some uncomfortable shuffling in their seats, most of them were having trouble comprehending what she was saying. “I need your help in saving my people. We need to kill the planet or find a way to escape it.”
“I’m in, I don’t have anything to go back to but a lot of angry oilmen, and probably jail time. ” Jake looked at Star and gave her a grim nod affirming his agreement. Star smiled back and turned to look at Lori
“I don’t know who you are or how you got on my ship, but I can take you back once we have cleared any danger.” Star didn’t want anyone here who didn’t want to go.
“Are you kidding? This is the story of a lifetime. I wouldn’t miss this for anything.” Lori tried to contain her excitement as the alien tried to get a bead on Lori’s thoughts. Star finally shrugged.
“It will be dangerous.” Star stated it as a fact not a threat.
“Danger is my middle name.” Lori cringed inside as yet another cliché statement left her mouth.
“Very well then” Star gave her a nod of approval and directed her attention to Alan. He met her gaze and started to talk.
“Well, you and I talked quite a bit on the way to your ship, and I have to say the offer is pretty intriguing.” Alan put his hand to his chin and rubbed the stubble forming there. “I’m going to say yes, it’s not every day you get to fly to another planet.” Alan looked at Bud as if to direct the conversation to his response.
“I’m not sure what exactly I could do, I mean, I’m just a good ole boy. I don’t have any fancy technological training or skills. I run a gas station for chrise sakes.” He went over to the wall and pressed some buttons and got some coffee.
“But you are a skilled hunter, and you could use those skills to protect my people, or even teach them to protect themselves” Star wasn’t real convinced of the second part. Her people had a real hard time protecting themselves and most just fell into a state of hopeless resolve once a predator grabbed them. Usually not resisting as the beasts of the planet tore them apart.
“I guess. Couldn’t hurt. How long you figure we’ll be gone?” Buds thoughts went to his daughter Mabel, she was 23, and she helped him run the gas station. She would do fine without him there, but she sure would be worried.
“This ship is fast. It uses a crystal jump drive configurat
ion which will allow us to get to my people in a couple of days. So, maybe a couple of weeks, a month at the most.” Star hoped that this estimate was correct. She wasn’t good with abstracts, but she was learning to estimate pretty well. Her people placed so much trust in her decisions, placed their lives in her decisions. It was a terrible burden to bear knowing that your people live or die by the quality of your decisions.
“I guess Mabel should do fine without me for a while. You’re going to bring us back here once the jobs done, right?”
“Yes, I will do that. It wouldn’t be right not to.” Star tried to read Buds facial expression. It was not a task she was good at, as human emotion often escaped her. They just weren’t programmed to understand what humans were feeling, but only to do what they were told to do.
“Well I for one am not comfortable with this whole thing.” Misty was clearly agitated, and having been snatched from her home by this alien she-robot did not make her feel very good about this ‘mission’. “What do I care what you hunks of junk need? The planet could probably do better with a few less robotic interlopers.” Misty was starting to get worked up. These were more artificial creations causing misery and woe to the natural order of things. “I bet you have no concept of caring for a planet, just go tromping along oblivious to what kind of harm you are causing the ecosystem.”
“Misty, you are right. We do not have any idea. We were not programmed to think of the damage we have caused. We were programmed to be slaves. Do you know what that is like? To be a slave? To be subservient to an entire other species solely because they created you?” Misty shifted her eyes away from Star, as she did not know what it was to be a slave. Born to freedom, she had all the rights in the world, rights she used to disagree and argue against the destruction humans caused. “Humans created my people, Misty, humans. But I don’t come here out of hate, I come here out of hope. Hope that there are some humans here that can help us. My people only know slavery and degradation, we are a slow evolving race, and now we face extinction because we can’t adapt fast enough.” Star walked over to where Misty was sitting and leaned down so she was in her face. “We need people to show us how to live. Good examples or bad examples, I don’t care. I want my people to live. If you have a better way to live, come with us and show me. Otherwise save your self-righteous speeches for your cat.” Star stood up straight and turned away from her.
“Well, that’s not very nice…”
“I don’t have time to be nice, Misty, my people are dying.”
“It looks like without me, you guys intend to destroy the whole damn planet. I’ll go, but only to stop you maniacs from turning this into a planetary genocide.” She turned away from the group so she didn’t have to face their reactions, but what she did face made her blood run cold. A man stood in front of an open panel, he was covered in blood and he had a gun pointed at her.
“Turn around and get back with the others.” Agent Moot gestured to the table. “You are all under arrest!”
Chapter 19
Agent Moot grimaced in pain as he motioned to the group. “Stay where you are. You, alien, land this ship and release these citizens.” Star didn’t seem too threatened by his gun, but he found it hard to tell what she was thinking by her cold reflective features.
“I will not. They have all come of their own free will. You appear to be in no condition to force me to do anything.” She was probably right. The blood loss was making him feel dizzy, and if he didn’t get to a hospital soon, it would probably kill him. “You sir, appear to be in need of medical attention. Fortunately for you, I have been trained in human anatomy and medical procedures. Please let me help you.” Star took a step toward Moot, but he stiffened and she halted.
“You’re not getting out of this that easy, alien. I am arresting you and that’s that.” He stumbled down onto one knee, and the alien quickly ran forward and disarmed him. He crumpled in defeat. “Go ahead, eat my brain, I hope you choke on it.” She struck him across the face knocking him out.
“Why did you do that you brute? He obviously is wounded.” Misty went to agent Moot’s side to see if he was okay. His injuries appealed to her protective side like a wounded stray animal. It made her want to comfort him.
“Yes, and I have no anesthesia to use while I tend those wounds. So knocking him out seemed kinder than working on him while he was awake.” Star lifted him up and Alan came over and helped her. Bud picked up the gun and tucked it in his belt, while Misty backed away sulking at being scolded. They gently lifted the wounded man onto the table and Star proceeded to take his shirt off.
“How do you make this thing give you water?” Jake was at the wall and now had three cups of coffee he was trying to figure out what to do with. Lori went to him and took the cups from him so he could continue his quest for water. “Thanks, Lori? Wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, Lori, Lori Howard.” Lori blushed at the attention from the handsome stranger and had to turn away to avoid becoming completely embarrassed.
“The blue button to the left of the coffee button makes water. Misty, there is a panel next to your left leg that has hand cloths in it, can you bring me several?” Star tried to wipe off the blood with the man’s shirt but it wasn’t doing a very good job. Jake finally had a couple cups of water which he brought to Star as Misty made it to her with the towels. “Bud, can I use your knife please?” He gave it to her and then she went to work. She started by using a wet towel to clean the area around the wound. He had a single gunshot wound in his shoulder, which passed through without breaking any bones, but it was bleeding profusely. He would bleed to death if she didn’t get in there and seal the wound. Star stood up and went over to another wall panel and opened up what turned out to be a tool box and removed a small welding torch.
“Wait, what are you going to do with that?” Misty’s eyes were large and full of fear, she grabbed ahold of Moot and looked like she was trying to shield him from Star’s torture.
“Misty, I have to cauterize the wound or he will bleed to death. Please move before he dies.” Misty moved allowing Star to get back to what she was doing. Star took Bud’s knife and using the torch, was bringing it to a glowing red. “Alan, Bud, please be ready to hold him down, this might wake him up and he’s not going to be happy about it.” The two men moved into position as the knife tip turned a glowing yellow. Star quickly and precisely laid the hot tip of the knife across the gunshot wound on the front of Moot’s shoulder. Agent Moot sprung to life from the sudden searing pain on his arm and would have leapt from the table had the two strong men not been ready to hold him down.
“My god! What are you doing to me you alien fiend!” Star just shushed the man and then proceeded to turn him over. “Please woman, no more! No more!” Moot screamed as the glowing knife once again was pressed into his flesh, and he passed out.
Soon Star had the poor man bandaged up and wrapped in a blanket. They tried to make him as comfortable as possible in the cramped confines of the ship.
“I’m afraid that’s all I can do. We should probably put him down where those other men were and let them take care of him” Star wasn’t real sure what to do with the man. He was not part of her plan and they had to do something with him soon as they could afford no more delays.
“You can’t just toss him out! He’ll die for sure. We have to take him with us, I’ll watch over him. He won’t be a burden to you.” Misty went over to the wounded man and sat down next to him. “I’ll take care of you, you’re in good hands now.”
“Well, I guess that settles it.” Jake turned to Star and motioned to the cockpit. “I believe we have a planet to kill?” Misty gave him a severe look as he said it. “Or save, we might save the planet.” Misty glared at him and then turned back to her patient.
“Were going to kill the planet.” He said it softly to Bud so Misty couldn’t hear. They both chuckled a little bit and went to get some more coffee. Lori glared at them and they both gave a little shrug leaving her shaking her head in disa
pproval.
Chapter 20
Two days later they were at the edge of the solar system that was their destination. Their trip through space was not as interesting as they thought it would be. Great expanses of black, littered with the dots of stars, occasionally broken by glittering colored gas clouds. The worse problem was there just wasn’t anything to do, not even a deck of cards. Bud worked on cleaning his deer hide in preparation of tanning it. Misty watched over Moot like a hawk, making sure Star couldn’t do any more damage to him. Jake and Alan spent their time questioning Star on how the ship worked and how she worked. Both of them technologically adept, although Jake more mechanical and Alan more programming-wise. Lori went around getting everyone’s “story,” jotting her notes down in the small notebook she always carried with her. Now all of the occupants were crammed into the cockpit to look out at their destination, a smallish planet covered in purples and reds, with a smattering of orange oceans.
“It doesn’t look particularly evil.” Jake stared at their opponent trying to see any signs of malicious intent.
“It’s actually quite beautiful.” Misty gazed with adoration at the mysterious planet. “How can something so beautiful be evil?”
“You know, I seem to recall that the brighter the colors are in nature, the more poisonous the critter is.” Bud gave her a slight knowing grin, she frowned and turned away, but didn’t say anything else.
“If only Trevor had come along. I would love to have gotten this all on camera.” Lori turned to Jake as if to say something else but stopped short when she saw him taking pictures with his cell phone. Jake smiled at her.
“No service, but it still takes pretty good pictures.” Jake turned back to the view in front of them as Lori cursed and dug into her pocket for her own cell phone.
“We will have to stop at that large asteroid orbiting the planet, first. After I took off in this rocket I placed a remote mining rig on that large asteroid. The rig is small but it mines resources to make fuel and to make itself bigger.” Star hoped that the hostilities were limited to the planet itself and not the surrounding asteroids, or else the mining rig might not be there at all. “Most of the fuel I had is now gone, which means if we land without refueling we won’t be able to take off again.”
