by Bruce George
The Thorian told him that the trip out to the Mother Ship would take eight more days, because he wanted to be certain they hadn’t been detected. The time dragged by slowly, although with every waking moment Jo filled Mike’s head with tidbits of random info; like how to use a null gravity toilet.
When Mike asked why he needed to know that, he was told, “There could be a time when you may be riding in a craft that doesn’t have a gravity compensator. You’ll be glad to have this knowledge then.”
To Mike’s considerable discomfort, Jo reset the gravity to twice that of Earth. It was nearly as bad for the Thorian, because his body was used to 1.1g of Earth. The alien informed him that was the normal gravity for Saurans and was used on all their ships. Of course, Jo wasn’t recovering from having his legs regrown like Mike. So, while the alien was mildly inconvenienced, Mike was in pain much of the time. As his recovery improved, Mike’s legs grew stronger and Jo insisted that he move around and do exercises. It was as though Sherry was pushing him all over again.
There was a lot to learn; for instance, food from the processor. The device could reproduce his oat bars, and they were all right. But the taste of them grew old very quickly. He had Jo direct the machine to offer him something else. Some of it was edible and some nearly made him puke. But, he learned quickly what was likable and what was revolting. Jo assured him that the only way to know what he liked was to continue to try something new. Water was nice, but he really missed coffee.
Jo introduced him to the morning drink of Thorians. To Mike’s taste buds, it was horrible. Nothing could replace coffee.
“Mike, once we have reached the Mother Ship, you will have a wider range of choices. Furthermore, when we go back to Earth, we can bring back samples for the food replicator. The food processor will duplicate their texture and taste. It really does do a good job of it.”
Mike could only hope that was true.
At Mike’s insistence, Jo gave him a tour of the small spacecraft. There wasn’t much to be seen, as most of it was behind walls or in unpressurized areas. The med unit was a module that could be removed. It reminded Mike of Earth’s intermodal cargo containers, only much smaller. But the concept was the same. One could quickly change the module to match the mission.
The control room, which Mike thought of as the bridge, was slightly smaller in size compared to the other compartments. There were four other rooms, all the same as the one in which he and Jo had their first discussion. Apparently, on the Mother Ship, there were a wide variety of other modules, which could be changed out for different purpose driven missions.
Jo showed him the list of potential warriors he had assembled. The complete list contained more than fifty thousand names. Mike had the time, so he looked over many of them and saw a few names he knew.
Finally, he asked Jo, “Why me? I mean, I was just a lowly sergeant. There are names on this list of some really smart, high-ranking officers. I would gladly serve under most any of them. You have to know you could have done better than me to start with.”
Jo flipped his hand back and forth in a twisting motion, which Mike had learned was his way of indicating disagreement.
“Mike, I’m over three hundred years old and have been a slave to the Saurans for two hundred of those years. I’ve worked for a few powerful Saurans, so I speak from experience. None of the senior officers, on that list, would have been as ideal as I’m sure you will prove to be. It’s not just about intelligence, or rank, or success, although that is important. It’s about leadership, honor, and trust.
“Thorians marry for life, Mike. The Saurans murdered my wife and I was never the same person, after that. But, in some ways, I became a better person. I’ve never forgotten her; and I see that you also have not allowed the memory of your wife to fade away. I didn’t just look up your record; I researched all that I could find out about you, your wife, your son and your friends.
“A General has been living a life of privilege. He has men running around at his command and he enjoys it. That doesn’t make him a bad man or a bad leader. But a man like you appreciates every man in the chain of command.
“I read what you wrote about a few of your superiors. You showed genuine appreciation for their capabilities. Even when they made unpopular decision, you gave them your support because you knew they were doing what was necessary.
“A high ranking man will tend to be overbearing and out here that will get you killed. I’m going to put you in command. You chose the men you like, including senior officers. But ultimately, they will answer to you.”
Mike disagreed. “Jo, that’s crazy. I don’t have the talent or the education that these guys do. It would be a crime not to give one of them command.”
Jo stood tall and spoke to Mike as though he was a youngster. “Mike, they will exercise command, but you must over see their decisions. If you think they’re making the wrong decisions, then your will must prevail.
“As for your education, that will be upgraded on the Mother Ship. No one will have more knowledge of space and politics in this arm of the galaxy than you.”
He asked, “Why not you, Jo. Why don’t you lead? You have far more knowledge about all of this than I’ll ever have.
“Because humans will instinctively refuse to follow an alien being. It will be difficult enough to recruit on Earth. Why make it more so, by having the leader an alien creature so completely different in appearance from their own.”
Mike looked down, and then said, “Well if I’m going to be in charge, that shit has got to change. Your knowledge is too valuable to ignore. They will eventually learn to follow your lead, as long as you’re honest with them.”
He went silent, as he realized he was beginning to buy into the alien’s offer. He still had trust issues with Jo. He cautioned himself to avoid falling into the trap of thinking he could lead the people of Earth to war against a powerful alien race.
Then Mike glared at Jo and warned, “The first time anyone catches you in a lie they will turn on you.”
Jo looked at him for a moment, and then said, “That was a warning to me, wasn’t it Mike. You don’t have faith in my honor and that’s good, I suppose. I will try to do better at earning your trust.”
He nodded and coldly admitted, “Yes, it was a warning. You’d do well to remember that.”
Jo leaned toward him and Mike wondered about body language. If a human did that, it generally indicated that they were about to confide in someone. But, what did it mean for a Thorian. For all he knew, it was the alien’s way of saying “Fuck You.”
Jo said, “Mike, there is much for you to learn about life beyond your planet. I know there is much I need to learn about humans. Certainly, you can see there is great danger out here, for you and for your people. Together we must make the effort to learn from each other and perhaps we can save a great number of souls through that effort. Is it not a worthy endeavor?”
“Of course it is. But you’ve thrown a lot at me. You’re asking me to sacrifice my new body, after a miraculous recovery. Just because the cause is noble, doesn’t mean it’s the smart move at the time. Maybe this isn’t the right time and maybe I’m not the right guy to help.”
Mike scrunched his face into a grimace; it was something he did when he was frustrated. “Look Jo, there are plenty of well qualified men on earth who are far better for this than I am. I’ll help you find them.”
Jo smiled sadly. “I want you to do that. I want you to find as many smart men as possible. I understand that you would feel awkward about being their superior. I can assure you that they will accept your guidance. After having done so much research on you and finally talking with you, I am convinced that you are the one to lead our fight.”
Mike couldn’t be that easily swayed. This alien may have captured Mike’s body, but he hadn’t captured his mind. Mike didn’t want to force a confrontation with the guy, so he kept his distrust to himself, for the moment.<
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Addressing the topic at hand, he told the alien, “Jo you don’t know these people like I do. They won’t settle for an old enlisted man as their superior. The best of them spent their entire lives growing into the job of handling enormously complicated battle preparations and tactics. I’m good, maybe even great at small unit tactics. But I could never juggle all of the balls these men have been dealing with for years.”
To Mike’s surprise, Jo shot to his feet and announced, “They will follow you, because I will program them to do so. You should allow them to give their opinion. But once you have made up your mind to do something, none of them will defy you.”
Then Mike angrily shot to his feet and said, “Is that how you will rule us, by programming our minds to do whatever you wish. Well you can forget it, buster. Count me out.”
Jo sat down and said, “I see that I have angered you. For that I am sorry. I suppose you fear that I would program your mind somehow, in order to have you obey me. Please allow me to explain.” He pointed to the chair Mike had been sitting in and softly asked, “Would you please allow me to explain?”
With a sigh, Mike sat, but he was on the edge of the chair and his back was ramrod straight.
“Your fear of being programmed is legitimate and I can understand that better than you can imagine. For more than two hundred of your years, I have been a slave who was programmed to obey my masters, the Saurans. If the lowest Sauran gave me an order, I had to obey and I did so without question. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I knew what I was doing, but I couldn’t stop myself from following their commands.
“When the Mother Ship approached your solar system, it was time for me to be rejuvenated with new mind programs for processing humans for research. The old equipment on the Mother ship worked well enough to place the instructions in my mind. But, that programming would take two days and a Sauran needed to be present at the controls the entire time to oversee the implanting of those programs.
“Low echelon Saurans can be quite lazy and my immediate superior was one of the laziest scaleheads I’ve ever seen. He kept putting off his duty, as he griped about the length of time it would take. He would have to sit there watching instruments for hours, as the computer made the necessary alterations to my thought process.
“After he was warned by the Senior Pilot, a being you would call the Captain, he had to go forth with his duty. But he wasn’t very diligent about it. He made the connections and set the proper data to adjust me, but he left open other programs.
“You see; Saurans are not trusting. During our journey, whenever they put me to use, I was programmed to make repairs and do preventative maintenance on a wide variety of equipment. But, if they left that information in my mind, and added the processing method for humans, I might be able to free my mind using old and new programs together. So, before I was to be given my new direction, I should have had the old programs removed. But they were not.
“My supervising Sauran never realized that he had provided me with a way to release my mind and use it freely. I continued to function as though I had been reprogrammed. After all, there were twenty one Saurans on board, so there was no way for me to take advantage of my situation.
“My original plan was to program the humans to assist me and follow my orders. But when the first group came in and I saw that they were criminals and could never be trusted, I knew I would have to wait until the next load of humans came on board.
“Then my grand opportunity occurred, thanks to the God of all creatures. All but one of them had left to retrieve more humans, but a meteor struck their craft and they died on that frozen moon. I believe your astronomers call it Ganymede.”
Jo brought his right hand up and made a circle in the air, as he said, “The rest of the story you know.”
With apparent shame, the alien told him, “Mike, I have never been in a position to lead. To the best of my knowledge, no captive Thorian alive has ever been in such a position. I admit I am afraid, not of death, but of failure. It is my dearest hope that you will work with me to begin securing this part of the Galactic arm for your people and perhaps what remains of mine as well.”
Mike mumbled, “Jesus Christ. What a tale.”
Jo added, “Through God we can prevail. I know that Jesus Christ is one of your Gods. It is good that you have such beliefs. Surely the God of all creatures will give us strength, if we are courageous enough to help each other and fight together.”
For some strange reason, Mike thought of Sherry and what she might have said about all of this. He badly wished for her advice and thoughts of his wife brought something else to mind.
Mike spoke, as he thought our loud. “We’re going to need some women. I mean human women, of course.”
Jo’s eyes opened wide. “Ah, you wish to procreate.”
“Well, that could happen, I suppose; but that’s not why I suggest women be on board. They think differently than men and bring a different dynamic to the planning process. Also, we’re going to need several warriors, as you call them, and they’ll be better fighters if they have some women around to protect.”
What he told Jo about protecting women was true. But, to be honest, the thought of prostitutes would be attractive to some of the men, although Mike wasn’t in favor of women being abused as sex slaves that way. Also, he wasn’t sure how Jo would react to that idea, just yet, because he had been a slave for so long himself.
Regardless of Jo’s concerns, Mike knew many of the lower ranks would want to have the temporary comfort of women; that’s for sure. There wasn’t a military base anywhere on the planet that didn’t have prostitutes working nearby and doing a booming business.
Jo reached out a long arm and placed his hand lightly on Mike’s shoulder. “So, do you agree to help and lead us?”
“Jo, I’m not familiar with your customs and I don’t wish to create a misunderstanding here. Let me put it this way. I shall seriously consider your request and I must admit I’m leaning in that direction. But, I’m not ready to commit just yet.
“Let’s talk more and maybe get some food. The more I hear, the more I learn and the more I learn the better decision I’ll make.”
The tall alien grinned and said; “Now you demonstrate your wisdom and further convince me that you are the one to guide us.”
Chapter 5