Zorvak's Rescue: Compatibles

by Hannah Davenport

  Dressed in my white flight suit, I eased into the pilot seat and ran my hand slowly over the arm of the chair as the weight of the moment settled over me. This was it, everything I’d worked so hard for had all been for this moment…this mission. It was a small ship, but large enough that six people could live comfortably. It provided sleeping quarters and a small galley that contained a food replicator, along with some actual food.

  I glanced over my shoulder, caught Lara’s eyes, and shot her an excited smile before securing the harness and tightening the straps. With my helmet in place, I took one slow, deep breath to steady my nerves. This was my time to shine.

  When the long-anticipated order sounded through the helmet, my hands reacted with practiced ease. “Exploration One, this is Control. You are cleared for launch. I repeat, you are cleared for launch.”

  “Copy that, Control.” One by one, I flipped switches, lighting the navigation panel. The power hummed throughout the ship, infusing my body with excitement. The long-awaited moment had finally arrived. This was what I’d trained for.

  The ship vibrated with liftoff, the force of G’s pinning me against the seat. Nothing was a surprise. It would only take a mere minute before we cleared the Karman line. As daylight gave way to darkness, I relayed, “Control, we’ve cleared the atmosphere. Switching on the artificial gravity system now.”

  “Copy that, Exploration One.”

  After setting the coordinates heading toward the Proxima Centauri, I took only a moment to enjoy the view. I could see the craters carved in the moon as we passed by. I stared in awe as we neared Mars.

  “Oh my God! I can’t believe we’re actually here!” Lara’s excited voice sounded through the ear piece inside my helmet.

  “We are the first!” Glen yelled as he punched the air. I couldn’t help but grin at his enthusiasm. There were six of us, and everyone felt the same. We’d all worked hard for the honor to be on the first exploration voyage, the pride was easily heard in each voice as they sounded off.

  “Can you believe how beautiful it looks from up here?” Lara said with awe. When I glanced back, I saw Lara staring out the small round window.

  I felt the same. It looked so clean, so peaceful, unlike the smog that choked Earth.

  One day passed, and then another. We had seen Mars’ red color, Saturn’s rings, and Jupiter… No wonder the legend said that on clear nights, it could be seen from Earth. One week turned into two, then three. Everyone had settled into a routine, but the awe of space travel kept spirits alive. Things were proceeding as planned.

  “Brian?” I said, getting my co-pilot’s attention. “I’m going to get something to eat. Yell if you need me.” He nodded before turning back to the control panel. “Thanks.” I pushed up from the chair and headed for the galley.

  “What will I have today?” I asked myself while looking over the options. Deciding to forego the replicator, I grabbed a can of soup and a couple of packs of crackers. I warmed it in a small bowl and headed to the table.

  Just as I’d finished lunch, Lara dropped down in the seat next to me. With a grin on her face, she asked, “What do you think, still amazing?”

  “Yeah, I still can’t believe we’re here.” I lifted a cup to my lips and swallowed a drink of water.

  “I know, right? Who would’ve ever thought?” Lara grabbed some crackers from the table and popped one into her mouth.

  I smiled over the rim of my cup as I studied her. Lara could’ve been a model with her blonde hair, fair skin, and perfect features. Most people we encountered had a hard time believing there was a highly-sophisticated brain inside her head, especially when you mixed her looks with her bubbly personality.

  “I did. I knew we could do it.” I grinned at Lara and then took another sip. We were so different, and so much alike. Okay, brains were the only thing we had in common. Physically, I looked completely different with my red hair, creamy skin, and green eyes.

  “I know. I wish I had half of your confidence.”

  “Shut up,” I jested as I threw a pack of crackers at her, which she easily caught with one hand.

  “What do you think we’ll find out there?” She tore open the pack of crackers she’d just rescued.

  Shawn walked in and grabbed a bottle of water before turning to face the two of us. “Probably little green men that can’t talk, you know, the ones on the covers of all those gossip magazines.” He grinned as he lifted the bottle to his lips.

  “I’m serious,” Lara huffed.

  “I’m sure they won’t mess with us; they’ve taken so many humans over the years that now they hold no interest in us at all.” I couldn’t help but interject. Shawn had a great sense of humor and I loved the banter we always fell into. Talking and joking with him came so easily.

  “Yeah, and what are they? Like three feet tall?”

  Lara listened quietly while Shawn and I bantered back and forth, talking about the little green men.

  “At least. You are twice their size. I think you could take them.”

  Shawn grinned and took another drink.

  “If you two are finished,” Lara said, “what do you think we’ll find?”

  I studied my friend for a second and realized that she was a little worried. Neither one of us had given much thought about what could be waiting in the great beyond. Our first thought was to work hard to get on the exploration team. The second was finding a suitable planet. I hadn’t really wondered about other beings occupying the planet. In my mind, it would be sitting there just waiting on us.

  “I don’t know,” I finally admitted as my brows drew close together, “but whatever it is, we’ll deal. That’s what we do.”

  “And we stick together,” Shawn added as he pointed the water bottle at Lara.

  “Okay.” Relief was easily heard in her voice. A smile replaced the concern on her face. “Maybe we’ll find a planet full of sexy men and women.”

  “That’s what I’m talking about,” Shawn added with enthusiasm.

  “That would be awe-” An alarm blared overhead as red swirling lights filled the room.

  The three of us raced to our stations. I slid into the pilot’s seat and accessed my NI. “Shit, it’s a meteor storm!”

  “Where did that come from!” It wasn’t a question. “The meteor shower appeared out of nowhere.”

  Brian always talked to himself. His worried eyes stared at me, but I only spared him a glance. With my NI connected to the ship’s computer, I initiated countermoves trying to avoid the meteors, but there were too many. Switching back to manual mode, I grabbed the helm and jerked it to the left. Avoiding one large meteor put us in the path of several smaller ones.

  “We’re hit!” Shawn shouted as the meteors bombarded the ship, knocking us one way and then the other.

  As fear made my heart race, I tried to maneuver around them, but there were so many. The ship groaned with stress as it made one sharp turn after another. “Shit! I’ve lost navigation control! Get it back online! NOW!”

  “No life support! I repeat, no life support!” Chris’ panicked voice boomed through the ear piece.

  I closed my eyes in defeat. The mission was a complete failure and all we could do now was try and live through it. With no life support, we could only survive a short time. The evac pods came equipped with oxygen, but how would they hold up in a meteor storm? Make a decision!

  I faced the solemn crew. By the look on their faces, they knew it was over. I still asked. “Stay here until the storm passes or take our chances in the evac pods?”

  “Evac pod,” Chris quickly answered. “With every passing minute, we are traveling further from Earth with no life support.” I nodded, letting my gaze touch on every one of my crewmates. Accessing the NI, I scrolled through the info that only I could see, located Earth’s coordinates, and programmed all the evac pods. “Evacuate!” I ordered. “Your pods have been programmed with Earth coordinates.”

  I quickly unbuckled my harness and raced for my designated e
vac pod. Just before the lid closed over me, I caught Lara’s worried eyes. The lid snapped shut and locked with a final click. Accessing the NI that interfaced with the pods, I ordered the ejection of all six.

  As my pod ejected, the sheer force plastered me to my seat, and I gripped the handles so tight my knuckles turned white. Fear raced through my body, making my heart pound wildly in my chest. I hadn’t practiced this, wasn’t prepared for failure. I always tackled every task with confidence and determination of success.

  A meteor struck the evac pod, jerking my head sideways and changing the pod course. “Oh, shit!” I gasped in horror. Thinking quickly, I accessed the pod readings. “Oh, God, no!” I screamed as the pod hurtled into the opening of a black hole.

  The weightlessness of space quickly disappeared as the gravitational pull greatly increased. My body felt stretched, although I stayed strapped into my seat. My insides pushed upward with the force of the black hole. The Exploration One could’ve handled the pressure, but the evac pod wasn’t equipped to deal with the force. I screamed from the sheer pain of being ripped in half before sweet darkness took over and I passed out.

  2

  ____________________

  A Brand-New Planet

  As I slowly emerged from unconsciousness, memories quickly flooded back. My heart pounded in fear. Hurtling toward a black hole, the agony from the gravitational pull, and then nothing. Just sweet peace from the agonizing pain.

  Cold air flowed over my skin and I realized my suit was gone. Where was it? I took a deep breath, tasting clean air for the first time in my twenty-six years. Another breath; oxygen rushed up my air passages and down into my lungs. The richness made a soft smile curl my lips upwards. This had to be heaven. I had died and gone to heaven.

  Slowly, my eyes peeled open, expecting to see pearly white gates, maybe a beach with the bluest water lapping at white sand. I hadn’t thought much about the afterlife so anything was possible at this point. What I hadn’t expected was a blue upright blob with three diamond shaped eyes staring back at me. It blinked, but not all eyes blinked at once. My breath hitched, my pounding heart assured me that I was very much alive. Oh, shit!

  Eyes wide with fear, I swallowed hard and tried not to scream even though I couldn’t ever remember feeling so afraid. When the blue blob looked away, I quickly scanned the area, searching for a way to escape. The evac pod lay in a mangled mess nearby, destroyed from the crash. Thank God, it had come equipped with an airbag-type device. They were for emergencies only, so upon landing, they would deploy and encase the occupant in a bubble. It worked! As realization settled over me, panicked thoughts flooded my mind. I crashed! I’m on another planet! There is an alien standing over top of me! Think dammit! I quickly accessed the NI but it couldn’t connect with the heavily damaged pod. Oh, shit! Without the pod, there was no way off this planet, no coordinates of my current location. More panic set in as my heavily labored breathing made me dizzy. My heart beat franticly as it tried to escape.

  Odd clicking noise from the blob echoed louder than my heartbeat, snagging my attention. I needed to calm down. Breathe. In and out. In and out. At least I’m alive. Don’t assume the worst. Breathe. In and out. The dizziness receded and I felt a little better. The clicking continued, and without the blinding fear clogging my instincts and common sense, I wondered if it was trying to talk to me. With its slow methodical movements and soft clicking sounds, the alien didn’t look aggressive, but looks could be deceiving.

  As I laid there, not making any effort to move, the alien extended a stick arm with two dull pinchers. What the hell? Did it expect me to take its hand? My eyes widened as I pressed back against the hard ground, not trusting the alien. I can get up on my own. I rolled over onto my side and pushed up to a sitting position. “Oh, shit! That hurts!” My entire body ached from either the force of the crash, or the extreme pull from the black hole: probably both.

  Standing on shaky legs, I glanced around and startled. “Oh, God!” Raking a trembling hand through my hair, I blew out a long breath of air. “There’s two of you,” I murmured. Another blue blob stood behind me.

  As I stared at the blobs, the weight of the situation pressed down on my shoulders. I wasn’t on Earth anymore, but in uncharted territory. I dreamed of finding a new planet, but never once did I think about finding other life. Talk about being naive.

  When they didn’t attack, didn’t even seem hostile, I relaxed a little, just thankful to be alive.

  With another deep breath, I closed my eyes and whispered, “amazing,” as clean oxygen filled my nose once again. My eyes popped open when the clicking started again, and I really studied the blob in front of me. It was average height, around five-foot-six. Its legs were just as thin as its arms. It kept glancing around and if I had to wager a guess, it looked anxious… maybe fearful. The one behind me started rapidly clicking to the other as if they were holding a heated discussion. Gooseflesh dotted my arms either from fear or the cold air. Probably both. I crossed my arms, hugging myself as I waited for them to finish with their conversation.

  Looking back to the one in front, it stared and then used its short arm to motion for me to follow. I watched with confusion and indecision as the two blue blobs turned their back to me and walked away.

  Quickly glancing at my surroundings for the first time, I noticed the major differences. Sharp jagged rocks protruded in patches from the desert ground. Small buildings lay in the direction the other two headed. My first thought? I’m on the edge of a small town. This world was odd… strange… and without knowing why the two blue blobs were fearful, I followed them. At least they seemed hospitable, and I’d always heard there is safety in numbers.

  The orange sky was fading with the setting of a red sun. As we walked, little tuffs of yellow grass could be seen growing through some type of hard concrete material. With every wondrous—odd discovery, I would stop and stare, which left me lagging.

  I hurried behind the two blue blobs. One of them - they looked so much alike that I couldn’t tell which - looked over its shoulder and then abruptly stopped. The other one started rapidly clicking, but this one ignored its frustration. It dropped a tote, pulled out a dark cloak and handed it to me. I hesitated and then quickly snatched it, thankful to have something to put around my chilly shoulders. I slid my arms through the sleeves and drew the hood over my head. It was big but it covered everything.

  Scanning the area, I thought it odd that the entire street lay abandoned. Movement would catch my eye, but I only spotted curtains swaying as though someone or something had slammed them shut. How odd. The fear tasted bitter on my tongue, but it wasn’t just my fear. With every step, I felt I was walking to my doom. The silence warned me that things were not as peaceful as they seemed. Something was amiss.

  We abruptly stopped in front of a small dwelling. The outside had seen better days with its peeling paint and small dirty round windows. They ushered me inside and I was surprised to see a very clean and homey house. It was the size of a small two-bedroom apartment on Earth. As I looked around, two round chairs sat next to a small heat stove. Treading carefully, not wanting to overstep my boundaries, I walked over to the stove and warmed my chilly hands. I puzzled over the heating source. There was no smell of gas or oil, and no place to burn coal or wood. How did it heat? What kind of fuel did it use? It wasn’t plugged in to any outlet.

  I was staring at the heater when the clicking sound grabbed my attention. One of the blobs sat down in a chair and pressed a button. A panel slid back, revealing some sort of electronics. Hope infused my chest as I accessed my NI. Please, please, let this work. Earth technology was advanced, but I had no idea how it would compare to this technology.

  With shouts in an unknown tongue, my eyes flashed to the dirty window. The blobs stood deathly still, but curiosity got the best of me. I slowly walked to the window, but with my hand inches away from the curtain, I hesitated. This was not my world, and if the blobs were afraid then I should heed the same war
ning.

  A crack between the curtains gave me a glimpse of a creature riding a beast through town. An ant-like exoskeleton covered his thin, man-sized body as he rode a thick creature that resembled a mammoth… but not. A whip cracked, striking down a lone alien who hurried down the street, trying to get away. This is what the blobs were afraid of. This could’ve been us…me.

  I gasped in horror as two other exoskeleton creatures jumped off their beasts, grabbed the fallen alien by the arms and legs, and then rode away with it tied to the beast’s back.

  Realizing what a dangerous world I’d landed on, I swallowed hard with dread and trepidation. I needed off this planet!

  Turning back around, I watched as the blue blobs blinked rapidly before returning to their task. Taking a seat in the chair closest to me, the gravity of the situation settled on my shoulders. There was so much to learn so I could navigate this dangerous planet.

  Trying to get my mind off things, I concentrated on the NI and the signal. After about fifteen minutes, it finally latched onto one. “Yes,” I said with excitement, uncaring that the two blobs quickly turned and stared at me.

  The NI scrolled through information, but I couldn’t decipher any of it. Deciding on another tactic, I uploaded the English language to the alien computer. Maybe then the NI could learn and decipher the language after it converted it to English.

  The blue blob was much smarter than I’d given him… or her, credit for. It came at me, cautiously holding out a small object. Uncertainty made my lips tighten and my nose crinkle. He hadn’t hurt me yet. In fact, it appeared they had protected me. The least I could do was give them my trust until they proved untrustworthy.

  I remained a statue as the blob slowly extended the object to my right ear. A small cry escaped when I felt the object crawl inside, burrowing deep. It took all my strength not to shake my head and get it out. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I raised my hand to my ear, but before I could touch it the clicking started again.