by Anna Lewis
“Then, we are at an advantage! We shall capture her and wait for the cyborg to come to her rescue. It’s the perfect plan!” cried the captain.
“Very good, sir!” replied the first mate, commending him for his sharp thinking.
“Find her!” shouted the captain. “Find her now!”
On the other side of the room was the brave Lena who remained crouched behind a set of metal boxes. She tapped her cyber watch.
“Useless thing,” she whispered. “Now what do I do?”
Lena looked around to see if she could fashion herself a weapon in order to make her way through the maze of halls. She picked up a metal pipe and walked carefully towards an unmarked room, analyzing the blinking pad on the door. The language displayed was what she had seen on the side of the ship, the squiggles and curls similar to the ones she had researched on earth. She couldn’t understand all of them, but some of the symbols indicated it was a storage room for cargo. It might even hold some drones.
The doors slid open and she scanned the room, holding the metal pipe close at her side. In the corner lay an unused drone that caught Lena’s eye. She closed the door behind her and started working on finding the control panel in order to rewire it. She’d have to drag it to a port in order to use it, but if she could figure out the processing system then she would be able to fly straight back to earth. Once she rewired the drone, she popped open the top and peered inside to get a good idea of the controls. It looked simple enough.
On the wall next to the door, Lena noticed a map outlining the layout of the ship. She studied it briefly and snapped a picture with her watch that she could use later to identify the important parts of the ship. This was handy to have back home where they could figure out how to stop the Vihatagons. They would have to disable the drones first before taking out the mothership. It was going to take a lot of power to do that.
Now to find a way to fly out, thought Lena while looking around the room. There! A portal!
Diagonal to the door was a circular opening that looked like a port. She shoved the large spherical drone over in that direction, programed the coordinates to the military base below, and then synthesized herself into the memory of the drone computer.
“Here I come!” she shouted as the drone rose up and attached to the port.
It hummed as it charged up in the shaft and then entered the atmosphere, catapulting towards the earth. She made it through the atmosphere and was rapidly approaching the field that Trevor had left behind, soldiers aiming their guns in her direction. There was no way to inform them of her escape, so she braced herself for them to fire at the outside of the drone. A few of their ray guns hit the front of the drone before it landed in the dirt, sliding across the length of the field and stopping near the tents. Soil sprayed up into the air on both sides. A soldier carefully approached the fallen drone. Just as he was about to shoot it again, Lena appeared next to it with her arms up in the air.
“Don’t shoot!” she shouted. “I’m Dr. Lena Clark!”
“Doctor!” shouted the soldier. “The general was just looking for you!”
Lena ran after the soldier who was leading her to the main building. If only they’d had a vehicle to transport them. Her legs were already giving out beneath her, and she wasn’t sure whether she would make it in time before Trevor tried to come to her rescue.
“Wait!” she called after the soldier. “You’re going too fast!”
A few more yards left her gasping hoarsely. The soldier ran back to take her arm and guided her to the main building. They rushed past the scientists waiting in the main area, flew up the stairs, and stormed into the conference room where the two generals and the commander were shouting. Trevor turned as the door slammed open and impulsively took Lena up into his arms.
“Lena!” he cried happily as he spun her around.
“Trevor!” she squeaked, hugging his shoulders tight.
The couple kissed briefly, a few relieved tears making an appearance.
“How did you get back?” asked Trevor while setting her down on the ground.
“I reprogrammed one of the drones to get me back to earth. I think we can do the same to get you up above the atmosphere,” she explained.
“What?” asked Trevor.
“You can do that?” asked General Sanders.
“Yes, I can,” said Lena. “Trevor, you’re the only one who will be able to reach the control panel on the ship. It’s underneath and none of us would be able to disable it without a spacesuit.”
“I don’t understand,” said Trevor.
“I can make you an EVA suit... a spacesuit for you to survive in space,” she explained. “And then you can ride the drone up to the belly of the mothership in orbit, get out of the drone, and disarm the mothership’s drone system.”
“You mean, you intend to stop the drones collecting people?” asked General Haynes.
“Yes, we can disable them completely. And we can get the people back,” replied Lena, still panting from her sprint across the field.
“When can we start?” asked General Sanders.
“Whenever we both get a hot meal. I’m starving,” replied Lena while holding her stomach.
“I think we all need to eat,” said Trevor, guiding Lena to the door.
The other men agreed and the group walked down the stairs to the main area to see what they could put together. Some of the supplies had been salvaged from the damaged tents and the kitchen area had a microwave with a number of provision packets. Each of them helped themselves to whatever was available, sitting with the scientists at the table.
The British scientist introduced himself to Lena as Dr. Marcus Warren. He was a developer of space travel with an extensive knowledge of aliens at the University of Cambridge. They had a brief discussion about the alien technology and talked about the drones, Lena commenting that she had discovered a way to reprogram them. Many of the scientists agreed that they would have done the same and then debated about the best way to disarm the mothership.
“You have to go to the control panel,” suggested Dr. Warren.
“No, you fool. You have to get into the bridge in order to disarm the entire ship,” claimed Dr. Glenn Snyder.
“But all the controls are under the belly,” said Lena.
“How would you know?” asked Dr. Snyder.
“Because I was just there,” she said, standing.
She turned to ask General Sanders if there was a laptop nearby and he procured one for her. While tapping her watch, she synced it using the Wi-Fi feature and started scrolling through her notes of the mothership’s layout she’d photographed while up there. She waved her fingers over the screen and then pulled the visual up over the table where the scientists were able to view it.
“Gentlemen, this is the map of the entire mothership,” Lena said proudly. “Now, let’s discover how we can take these aliens down.”
Chapter 3
As Lena explained the interior of the mothership to the five scientists, a number of transportation pods were landing in the field just beyond the building. A line of soldiers waited for the aliens to appear and readied their ray guns.
“Where’s the general?” called one soldier.
“He’s in the main building. Jeffery, go get him!” yelled another.
Jeffery shoved his ray gun in its holster and then ran in the direction of the main building, busting through the main doors and huffing before explaining the situation to General Sanders. The older general ran out the door with his soldier, calling for Trevor to follow. As Lena was about to run after Trevor, he stopped her and pressed his lips to hers.
“No, darling,” he said. “Let me handle this. Work on that spacesuit.”
“But Trevor--”
“Stay here.”
Trevor kissed her one more time before dashing out the double doors guarded by two soldiers. Lena watched him disappear past the gates and down the path to the field, worried that she might not see him again. Teary eyed, she
returned to the table and finished the discussion about how to infiltrate the mothership.
“We’ll need a team to go up in a drone and start releasing people back to earth,” she explained while wiping her face. “I’ll also need help fashioning a spacesuit.”
“Are there any materials on base that you could use to build one?” asked Professor Franklin McLeod, head of the IT Institute of the Western Alliance.
Lena stared at the table.
“There are, but they are in the hospital where I was fired. I’m not allowed back inside,” she replied.
“Can we send someone else to retrieve those materials?” asked Dr. Warren.
“I believe so. We can ask one of the soldiers to collect it. I can communicate with him via radio. General Haynes, do you have anyone up for the job?” asked Lena, turning to the other general.
He raised one eyebrow in her direction and smiled.
“I am more than capable of doing so, Dr. Clark,” he replied. “Tell me what you need.”
Grateful that he had volunteered for the job, Lena gave him a list of items she needed from storage and sent him off with a radio. General Haynes walked carefully to the hospital and entered through the front entrance with the key card that all of the generals had in order to access different buildings. He followed Lena’s instructions exactly and found the closet that held the necessary items.
Just beyond the wall was the field containing many enemy aliens who held up large disintegrators in their mangled arms. An opposing line of human soldiers met them in the middle. Trevor stood at the front.
General Sanders shouted for their leader, to which the Vihatagons responded in their garbled language. Staring at the strange aliens before him, General Sanders shouted again, demanding that their leader meet them to discuss a treaty. Again, the Vihatagon at the front line responded with a gurgle and then raised his disintegrator.
“Ready!” shouted General Sanders.
The line of Vihatagons chortled, spewing goo everywhere.
“Aim!”
Another ship appeared in the background and added to the collection, expanding nearly the entire length of the field. The alien in front positioned himself in front of the general. A silence fell over the field, dust kicking up around the still bodies waiting for their cue.
“Fire!”
Rays erupted from the line of soldiers, showering the disfigured bodies with colorful wounds. The ground rumbled as Vihatagons fell into puddles of their own body fluids and gurgled angrily at the winning side. Seeing an opening in the enemy’s line, Trevor sprang forward and began to shoot his way through the mass of aliens, knocking limbs left and right wherever his cybernetic arm aimed. The Vihatagons tried to no avail to take out the front line of soldiers. A few of the soldiers disintegrated into thin air, but most of them remained and held their positions.
Trevor continued to punch his way through the aliens as they tried to sprint forward. The general stood in the middle of the chaos, shouting encouraging commands to his soldiers who were valiantly facing their fears. Beyond the mess of bodies, Trevor heard a familiar laugh. Walking between the stream of fire was Mike who extended his tentacles forward to embrace Trevor.
“Oh, hey buddy!” called Mike over the sound of ray guns and disintegrators. “I’ve missed you.”
Trevor jumped back from the fleshy suction cups, knocking them away. As Mike reared his tentacles back for another strike, Trevor put his cybernetic palm forward and shot at the squishy appendages. Mike screamed as he fell to the ground. A quick recovery had him back on his feet and charging the cyborg who put his arms out. The hybrid alien grappled with Trevor for a short time, their surroundings filled with the sound of ray guns and bodies hitting the ground. All of it faded away as Trevor pinned Mike to the ground and wrapped his cybernetic hand around the fleshy throat.
“This is the last you will ever betray us,” announced Trevor.
“I will come back as many times as possible in order to stop you, Trevor,” stated Mike.
“I’ll be waiting.”
Clenching his fingers together, Trevor choked Mike until his last breath, gasping as the life left his eyes. Trevor stood, feeling both victorious and guilty. He looked around at the blue carnage surrounding him, watching as the rest of the Vihatagons fell against the green rays. A roar of cheers broke out after the last alien had fallen and Trevor went to meet his general who was smiling wide.
“We did it, Commander,” he said through pearly whites.
“Indeed, we did,” responded Trevor. “But there will be more.”
Frowning in response, General Sanders followed Trevor back to the main building where the soldiers gathered to rest and celebrate their victory. Trevor greeted Lena inside. He was worn. A fever had taken hold of his body as exhaustion turned into illness, causing him to collapse in one of the private bedrooms on the second floor.
“I’m not sure how much longer I can manage this, Lena,” he said through dry lips. “It’s too much.”
“I know, Trevor. We’ll make it through this. I designed the spacesuit and we ran a few tests on it. It’ll get you up into orbit so you can take down the mothership,” Lena replied.
“I don’t even want to think about that right now,” said Trevor.
“Well, what do you want?” Lena asked, tracing his freshly showered body.
“You.”
In an instant, Trevor pulled Lena on top of his tense body, rubbing hands up her blouse and removing the soft fabric. A valley of skin awaited his kiss that he devoured passionately, fingers exploring secret places that elicited moans. His lips savored every bit of her flesh all the way up to her chin as she gripped his back. Heat formed between their aching bodies, the separation having inspired an intense longing that made itself apparent in this private space. Brazen hands removed the barrier of her underwear and dove beneath the creamy skin hiding her garden.
The bold caress of his tongue breached her every defense and she wrapped her slim legs around him. His body surged into hers with intensity, skin zapping with every collision. An array of soft moans echoed between them as they complied without thought and consumed the skin of the other. Eyes narrowed, she felt herself growing weaker in his arms, the grip of her climax coming on stronger with every roll of her hips. The sensation came in molten waves that tickled her skin and made her shudder with each touch. He could feel her shake and plunged deeper into her sweet depths, slipping seamlessly between her folds as fluid abounded.
Lips opened wide to release a low cry as she shivered with delight at the heavenly sensation between her legs. Watching her encouraged his eruption and he grunted as he gripped her shoulders, keeping her body from flailing off the bed. The satisfied couple grinned at each other and pressed their foreheads together while listening to the sound of the crickets chirping outside their window. A somber silence had befallen the entire base, the hush of sleeping survivors who swore their victory in the days coming. Trevor and Lena cuddled on the sheets until they joined the ranks of those in contented slumber.
Chapter 4
The next morning, Lena and Trevor woke up smiling as they stretched and reached for open flesh. Memories of the previous day sank in slowly as they came to consciousness and Lena shot up from the bed, feeling around to make sure her body was still whole.
“Sweetheart, is everything okay?” asked Trevor from the pillow.
“Yes, of course,” she replied with a sigh. “I just have jet lag from that drone.”
“Was it that bad?” he asked.
“No, it was painless, but it was strange having my molecules broken down and stored in its memory compartment. It feels like I’m a copy,” she explained. “I’m pretty hungry, too. Let’s go eat.”
A yawning Trevor pulled on his borrowed Navy uniform as Lena dressed in the same outfit from the day before, cringing at the wrinkled fabric. Out in the main area, the scientists and two generals had already set up breakfast and welcomed the rested couple.
“Good m
orning,” said General Sanders.
“Good morning, sir,” said Lena as she took a seat.
The group helped themselves to the food and drank their fill of coffee before being briefed to go back out into the field. As the general discussed how they would prepare, he intermittently asked Lena for advice on the coming wave of enemy aliens. Lena explained that they could defend themselves like they had the first time as long as they had enough men to fill the field.
“But what about the rest of the world?” asked General Haynes.
“Inform them to use the same methods. I’ll create a sheet of instructions on how to deactivate the drones and release the multitudes of people inside,” replied Lena.
“Do you know how many they hold?” asked Dr. Snyder.
“I’m not sure. I could find out by disassembling the one I used in the field, if it’s still there,” she responded.
“Well, let’s get to work,” said Trevor, rising from the table.
“Absolutely, Commander,” said General Sanders.
Staying behind were the group of scientists going over Lena’s picture of the mothership’s interior. The generals, Lena, and Trevor were accompanied by a few soldiers.
Lena opened up the drone and began tinkering with the controls. It was difficult to discern the information as it was written in the alien language, but she figured out the most important pieces and turned to report it to General Sanders.
“Sir, it seems to hold up to two hundred copies at a time,” announced Lena while shutting the control panel. “It’s all set to fly back up to the mothership, too.”
“Two hundred?!” cried the general. “How many of these things have been spotted?”
General Sanders turned to the soldiers around him, imploring them to give him an accurate answer with his arms outstretched.
“Well?” he asked.
“Sir, no one knows how many exactly,” spoke one of the soldiers.
“There have been reports of hundreds.”
“Even thousands.”
“No one really knows.”