He was quiet for a moment. He pulled a mobile phone from his pocket and handed it to the President. “They want proof of life.” She took the phone and pulled up the dial pad. After tapping in a few numbers she held the phone to her ear.
“Hello, Commander. Yes, Dr. King and I are alive and relatively well. Proctor has us in some kind of—“ She was cut off as Proctor yanked the phone out of her hand. He held it to his ear and then held the phone out again, this time towards me. I rolled my eyes and lifted my cuffed hands. Proctor shrugged and held the phone near my ear.
“Go fuck yourself, Oladeru!” I yelled into the handset. I heard a faint laugh. Proctor hung up the phone and returned to his radio.
“You have your proof of life. Stay back five hundred meters.” He turned to leave the room.
I heard a rumble. We couldn’t have been that far into the ship if I could hear anything from the outside. Fighter jets.
“You’re fucked,” I asserted. Proctor didn’t react. “You’re magnificently and truly fucked, you moron. They’ve got jets out there. Probably a couple of hundred soldiers. Remember what our missiles did to the alien ship? That’s going to be you, motherfucker. They won’t give a shit that we’re on board. They’re going to blow this ship out of the sky the second you take off.”
Proctor stayed turned around and I saw the fingers in his right-hand twitch. Bingo. He was silent a minute longer and turned suddenly.
“Right. Stand up, ladies! We’re going for a little walk.” He opened the door and motioned to two soldiers who were standing outside. A soldier hauled me to my feet and threw the jacket back over my shoulders. The other soldier held out his hand to help the President up. She stood and accepted the jacket without a word. Proctor’s man pushed me ahead of the group, the President and Proctor himself following behind. As we walked, Proctor droned on.
“Your military won’t do a thing,” he said. “After all, it would be foolish to annihilate the remainder of the human race over something so small.”
As we marched through the hallways I counted the doors and turns. I hadn’t spent as much time on the alien ship as Jackson but I knew enough to figure out where we were going. He was taking us to the bridge.
“You’re seriously going to take us to the bridge? What, are you going to broadcast the two helpless women to the world and hope they let you take off? They don’t care about us. This is the United States military, you moron. They’re not exactly known for their critical thinking skills. They’ll shoot first and fuck questions. The minute you fire up the engines they’re going to blow us out of the sky.”
Proctor’s man looked back at him and I saw him nod out of the corner of my eye. The man halted our march and drew his fist back. The air whooshed out of my lungs and I doubled over, gasping.
“Keep talking, woman,” Proctor ground out, his voice menacingly low. I recognized that tone. It was like the growl of a tiger right before it pounced on prey. The goon hauled me upright, my back screaming as he did so. He kept a hand on my manacles and hauled me forward like an errant dog. I grit my teeth and didn’t say another word. My stomach was killing me and every yank of the chain or twist of my back set my muscles aflame.
We entered the bridge and through the haze of pain, I saw dozens of men and women standing at command stations. They were all clad in the same featureless black uniforms I had grown to know so well. The President was led to a seat directly behind where Proctor stood, two men stood over her with their pistols in their hands.
The man who had hit me pushed me towards Proctor’s station as well and forced me to my knees. I winced as the metal decking scraped my knees through the fabric of my jeans. As the men and women, the very same men and women who had brutally murdered so many, rushed around the deck, I stared at the various screens. Information. If I was going to survive this, I needed information. I recognized screens showing diagnostics, engine status, and ship status.
One of the screens flickered to a live view of the outside of the ship and I found myself staring at a battalion made up of every color of uniform I had ever seen. Trucks with groups of soldiers ringed the perimeter and several helicopters stood with their rotors spinning. Each man stood with his rifle trained on the ship in what I assumed was exactly five hundred meters away. The bridge shuddered as more jets flew overhead. Proctor glanced upwards and I saw the same tremor shake his right hand. He snorted gently and flexed his fingers.
“Start the sequences for launch.”
31
Jackson
I held onto my harness as the shuttle rocketed towards Earth. This was a significant upgrade from anything I had ridden in before. Kitted out with the best equipment I could ever want on a mission and plenty of space to prepare for an assault. As we re-entered the atmosphere the ship shuddered and rocked but the movements were worlds less violent than I had seen astronauts experience upon re-entry. Turns out that my alien friends had been hiding the fancy stuff.
“You guys have been keeping the really fun toys from me!” I laughed as we bounced through the atmosphere. This was more of a joy ride than a rollercoaster and man, I loved it.
“We gave you the technology required to get off the planet. Did you think we’d share everything?” Kuru chuckled as she steered the craft towards our landing site. I had asked for volunteers from soldiers who I had worked with before. People who knew Alex personally. People who knew that this was going to be a tough mission. Perhaps even one they wouldn’t come back from. Having only two wasn’t a lot but I knew Kuru and Tilka better than most.
We broke through the clouds and I saw the landing site. I couldn’t believe that we had missed it. The ship was just as massive as the others. Proctor must have been using some kind of shielding to keep it off scans. I couldn’t imagine the power it must have drawn.
“Alex is on that ship,” I said to myself. It was entirely possible that I was going back down to the surface of the planet for the last time but if I failed, it wasn’t going to matter whether or not I made it back up. Since I met her we had been through so much. We were two strangers who had been able to come together from the onset, to adapt and overcome some incredible obstacles—obstacles that others would have died trying to get through. In many ways, I owed her my life.
The team sat in the back of the shuttle getting ready. They had all volunteered, knowing that they also might not make it back off the surface of the planet. We were headed into a boss fight with low-level characters and no hit points. It didn't escape me that I might be about to get a lot of young men and women killed so I could rescue two people.
We activated the shuttle’s stealth as we descended toward the ship. This was one of the truly cool pieces of tech the aliens hadn't shared with us. The ship was covered in panels that reflected their surroundings in real-time. Land next to a zebra and we’d be blending in with its stripes. Proctor’s ship had fully ascended to its launch pad and I saw a small battalion surrounding it.
The troops Oladeru had brought looked like more a show of force than an actual threat to the ship. Understandable, considering the President was aboard. We landed near a repair hatch on the side of the vessel and filed out flat against the dark metal. I looked up as two fighter jets shot overhead. Air support. All right, they weren't fucking around. Someone was going to keep the ship from lifting off, one way or the other. It didn't matter who was aboard.
We worked our way around the side of the ship, ensuring our path was clear as we walked and came upon a conveyor belt loading equipment into a cargo area. It was mostly unmanned, two carts with robotic arms unloading boxes onto the belt. A single man stood with his back to us, one hand on his manhood as he relieved himself.
I crouched and removed my combat knife. One of the soldiers with me scraped their claws against the pavement and the man whipped his head around. I took advantage of the distraction to cut his throat. The man fell to the ground, blood frothing forth from his lips. The fastest way into the ship was through the cargo bay. With any luck, the
designs would be analogous enough that we could find our way around. We climbed onto the loading belt, careful to avoid the automated loading system. Once inside, I powered up the flashlight I had strapped to my helmet.
The cargo hold was massive. Crates lined the walls filled with food, water, and machine components. There were rows upon rows of three-dimensional printers, some completely assembled, most awaiting assembly. Raw materials were strapped to each machine, waiting to be used. The soldiers with me swiveled their heads, their nostrils flaring as they searched for more humans. The soldier to my left tapped a claw on the floor four times.
Four soldiers. Three of us. Bad odds on a good day. Kuru and Tilka split up, signaling me down the middle. The cargo hold was dark so I stood still a moment to let my eyes adjust. Tilka tilted his head back and barked. Two of the soldiers swung their guns around and started firing. A crate Tilka was hiding behind burst into splinters and Kuru and I took the opportunity to shoot the other two soldiers. They fell to the deck in a heap. The remaining soldiers found themselves skewered on alien claws, their lives extinguished in a single gasp. I lifted my boots as the blood from one soldier flowed out over the floor.
“You fuckers got my boots dirty already? Seriously?” I lifted a foot off the floor and flung my foot forward. The blood made a satisfying arc against the wall and my companions grinned.
“We have to get to the bridge. They’re holding Alex and the President there.”
Tilka shook his head. “The engines, Jackson,” he growled. “You know that we have to take out the engines. I remember all too well what those jets above us are capable of and I’d rather not be on board for a second bombing. We must ensure this ship doesn’t leave the ground.”
Kuru put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “We’ll get her. I promise. She’s a smart woman, David. She’ll be all right.”
I hated the idea of leaving Alex for five more minutes in that slime-ball’s hands, but they were right. We searched the soldiers and hid their bodies behind some equipment. There was nothing we could do about the blood spatter, but with the light dim and us needing to act quickly before anyone could come to check on the cargo, hopefully, we would get lucky.
As we left the cargo hold we were able to make our way down the halls with relatively little conflict. What guards we ran into were easily dispatched. They were lightly armed and lightly armored. No one expected to see two alien soldiers and an enemy human pop into view.
When we reached the engine room I could hear the hum of the drives starting up. Even through the thick doors heat leaked into the corridor. Poor fuckers stuck on duty must have been sweating their asses off in there. Kuru examined the door carefully.
“Keypad. And a bolt lock. Big bolt lock,” she said. “We could try and find the code, but I don’t know if we have that much time. It might be better to set some charges—”
I jumped back and covered my eyes as several white-hot spots appeared in the middle of the door and near the floor. Kuru turned to glare at Tilka. “What?” He shrugged. “It’s not like I was going to hit you.” He motioned me behind him as he and Kuru took positions near the slag melting onto the floor. They leveled their guns at where the handles had been and kicked. The metal of the door groaned, but it didn’t budge. From inside I could hear the murmur of voices go silent and the click of guns cocking. I positioned myself behind them and leveled my gun at chest height towards the door.
The aliens kicked again and this time the doors burst open. We found ourselves face to face with six or seven men, all armed with rifles.
“Down!” I shouted but the aliens ran forward, shooting as they went. I hit the floor and shot upwards as well as I could. I managed to hit a couple of men. Even the shots that weren’t killing shots distracted them enough so that Kuru and Tilka were able to make short work of them. When things had finally quieted down I pushed myself off the floor and sprinted towards my companions.
Tilka lay on the floor pressing a hand against his leg where a bullet had grazed it, blood trickling down from the wound. Kuru was standing at a control terminal, keying in commands so quickly I could barely see what she was putting into the system. I hissed as I took Tilka’s hand away from his wound.
“Eesh.” I inhaled sharply. “That looks nasty.”
“It’s a scratch,” the alien rumbled. “I’ll be fine.” To demonstrate this he flexed his toes and winced.
“Mhmm,” I said, grabbing a roll of duct tape from my belt and ripping off a piece. I slapped the strip over the wound and pressed down waiting for the adhesive to fully stick to the skin.
“Uh, ow?” Tilka said, hands up in a surrendering gesture.
“Quiet, you big baby. It’s duct tape. You’ll live.”
“Jackson,” Kuru said quietly. “Go shut the blast door. The attack won’t have gone unnoticed.” Her eyes were glued to the screen, fingers flying over the keyboard as quickly as they would allow. “They’ve got things locked-up tight. It’s going to take me a little while to shut the engines down.”
I checked on Tilka and hovered my fist over the large button that would manually trigger the blast door. “I need to go get her,” I stressed to them.
Kuru paused from her typing. I put a hand behind her head and head-butted her softly. I did the same with Tilka and thumped him on the shoulder with my hand. Even if I failed, I could count on the two of them to shut the engines down and get out alive.
I pressed a button on my radio, opening a channel to the military forces waiting outside and let them know that the engine room was secured. There would be no launch.
32
Proctor
“Sir, you better listen to this.” One of Proctor’s men raised his hand and waved Proctor away from his station. He put the cup of a headset to his ear and swore. He yanked the auxiliary cord out of its input.
“Commander Oladeru, this is Lt. Colonel David Jackson. I repeat, the engine room is secure. The ship cannot launch.”
“How the fuck am I listening to this?” Proctor hissed, turning his attention to the room. I smiled to myself. Of course, Jackson was here. I hoped he wasn’t alone. A man to Proctor’s right started tapping frantically on a keyboard. A camera feed popped into view and I saw Jackson with two alien soldiers. A vein popped satisfyingly out of Proctor’s forehead. As amusing as that was, watching this man become increasingly unstable didn’t bode well for our continued survival.
Several soldiers clamored over each other to provide answers to their leader but Proctor silenced them with a hand.
“I don’t care. Get down there, you incompetent morons!” he bellowed.
The guard standing next to me moved to follow his comrades but froze with a look from his boss. “You stay here. They don’t move. You don’t move.” The guard shifted his weight nervously and shifted his rifle.
“The blast door is closed, sir.” The call came over the radio. “They’ve locked us out. We can get through but it’s going to take a while.”
“Fuck.” Proctor hissed. “Open that door. I don’t care if you need to blow a hole in the thing. We are launching and I don’t care if I have to break a piece off the ship to do it.” He typed angrily at a keyboard and I flinched as a radio feed crackled to life over the command center’s speakers. He pressed a button on a console.
“To the invaders standing in my engine room. There are currently two dozen soldiers amassing outside your door. They will have the blast door open in minutes. I will give you this one chance to stand down and surrender. Lay down your weapons and put your hands behind your heads. Once my men have the door open they will detain you and I guarantee you safe passage.”
Jackson moved from his spot next to the aliens and stood in front of the camera. He raised his arm and I quickly covered my laugh with a coughing fit as he shot the camera the finger. Proctor clicked his jaw and I could hear his breathing pick up. More typing on the keyboard and I suddenly saw both the President and myself kneeling on the floor. He had activated a camera feed. I r
esisted the urge to call out to him and chose instead to stare directly at the camera. Proctor snapped his fingers and Cady hauled me to my feet. My cramped legs protested and I grunted as Proctor pulled me in front of the camera. He pulled a pistol from his waistband and held it to my temple. I rolled my eyes. Again with the gun to the head routine? He pressed the intercom once more.
“You know the drill, Lt. Colonel. Come out with your hands up or the woman dies.”
I prayed that David could see my lips as I mouthed the words “fuck no.” This guy was a standard psychopath. It didn’t matter what happened from here on out. I was dead.
“Come now, David,” Proctor crooned over the radio. “Do the right thing.”
“David, don’t you fucking leave that room!” I shouted. Cady smacked me with the butt of his rifle and I felt my already split lip open again. I licked the wound and spat the blood at Cady’s boots. He jumped back a fraction but kept his gun at the ready. I heard indistinct chattering over his earpiece.
“Sir, the soldiers outside are on the move. They’re starting to close their perimeter.”
Proctor ignored Cady’s comment and continued. “Come now, Lt. Colonel. I could use a man like yourself. It’ll be better for everyone if you and your comrades step away from my engine consoles and come out peacefully. I’ll even make room for the good doctor here. It doesn’t matter to me.”
“Sir—“ Cady said, and then shut his mouth, as Proctor shot him a glare. “Sir, our instruments have picked up that the jets have armed their missiles. They must know that our engines have been disabled.”
“These people don’t know when to give up, do they? Fuck it.” He turned back to the camera feed. “Last chance Mr. Jackson. Put your weapons on the floor and kick them away. Have your comrades stand up and away from the console. Do it now, or your woman dies.”
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