My chest hurt, and my heart thundered away in its anxiety. Man, I didn’t know if it was the year of press touring or the months of prison, but I had certainly turned into a stress-ridden, paranoid man. Hopefully that would ease now that I was leaping feet first into the fray, but only time would tell.
I was so locked in my thoughts, I didn’t see a shape slithering up the chute towards me until it was nearly on top of me. I saw two brightly glowing, serpentine eyes staring at me and almost screamed before cutting myself off. The eyes blinked rapidly, and only after several solid seconds did I realize it was Morse code.
ALL CLEAR
“We got the signal,” I said, looking back to the others and waving for Gonzales to join us again. Once I was sure she saw, I looked back to the chute. “And, Mimic, please never use whatever this form is again. It’s absolutely terrifying.”
I couldn’t see any of the other features in the darkness of the shoot, but the corners of the glowing eye crinkled as if it was smiling before it slithered back down the chute.
“I’m going to see that in my nightmares,” I murmured before clambering into the slide feet-first and pushing myself down.
I picked up pace very quickly, the seat of my pants growing warm as I gained speed. The chute was much longer than I thought it would be, going past floor after floor after floor, until I was sure we were much farther down than the cells where we had been held for so long.
But after long enough, I saw a glimmer of light at my feet, rapidly approaching until I was dropping down into the open air.
My stomach felt like it shot out of my throat as I hovered there for a moment, nothing below me except a great fall, and it took everything in my mind not to scream like a little baby. And then I was tumbling down, to what I was sure was my death, until I landed on something soft and forgiving.
“Quick, out of the way before the next comes!”
I recognized Mimic’s voice giving the order and quickly rolled off whatever it was that had cradled my fall. Sure enough, Bahn came hurtling down and landed just seconds after me. I got to my feet and managed to warn him before Ciangi came down.
Since my feet were on solid ground, I got the chance to see what had saved me. It looked like Mimic had put a container filled with different foam cushions for shipping delicate items under the chute. I hadn’t even thought about us having a comfortable landing, so I was more than impressed that she remembered how squishy our bodies could be when it came to high-impact falls.
Soon Gonzales arrived as well, rounding up our group. We looked to each other, and I could feel the disbelief rolling off all of us.
“Is anyone else surprised that we’re still alive?” Bahn asked, tightening his greasy ponytail. Even sani-packs couldn’t properly clean long hair, and I certainly felt for the taller of the Coin Twins. I was sure when we got out of here, his first wish would be for a long, hot shower.
“Not I,” Mimic said. “You have never failed before, and I knew you wouldn’t now. Come, the chute leading to the recyclers outside is this way. It is a much shorter fall, but the landing will not be nearly as nice.”
“Noted,” I said, following along after the shapeshifter.
Her positivity was practically infectious, and despite the seriousness of the situation, I found myself getting further and further from the desperation that had plagued me for so many days. We were so close to freedom, which meant we were so close to returning to Mimic’s planet and leaving the trash pile that was Earth far, far in the distance.
I had learned a lot on the planet, and made some memories that would affect my life forever, but I would not miss it. I had found my happiness, and it was hurtling through space with my friends, facing down impossible odds. It was being at Mimic’s side and fighting for what was right.
We reached the last chute and just like before, Mimic went down first. This time, we didn’t wait for some sort of signal and followed a few seconds after her.
Just like she said, the landing was much harder. There was still plenty of packing foam, but it was mixed with boxes, metal scrap, and other refuse. Thankfully none of us ended up impaled by anything, but then we did had to comically try to wade through the shifting wastes until finally we were completely free.
I gasped, drawing in huge drafts of fresh air. It was wonderful in every way, shape, and form. The sun shone down on my face, the breeze caressed my skin, and the grass tickled through the holes in my cloth shoes. Looking around at my friends, I saw that they were equally enraptured.
For the first time in months, we were in natural lighting and I saw just how horrible we looked. Even putting aside Gonzales’s layers of bruising, both of the Coin Twins’ faces were drawn and gaunt, with deep purple circles under their eyes. All of their pallors were a bit yellow, and the whites of their eyes were more of a bloodshot red. Our nails were all much longer than they should be, but also cracked and brittle with plenty of cracked skin around the beds.
To be honest, we looked like forsaken revenants out of some of the flash-comics I used to read on the net. If I didn’t know better, I would definitely think we were all members of the undead.
“I am realizing that there is something very significant about this moment,” Mimic said gently, her hand alighting on my shoulder. “But we do not have time. We must get to cover and figure out the rest of our plans.”
I pulled myself from my observations and enchantment with being outside, turning to the alien and sending her the most honest grin I could. “You’re right, Mimic,” I murmured, still stricken by the fact that she was there at all. “Lead us home.”
Grand Theft Spaceship Part Deux
Our hover vehicle rumbled as it approached the front gates of the same complex that had led to our imprisonment. I wasn’t going to pretend that I wasn’t terrified out of my mind, but it wasn’t like a way around the situation.
After escaping the museum, we had gone to the shady hotel room that Mimic had been staying at in the slums of the city. She explained to us that the electronic density there made it harder to be tracked, bugged or overheard, so that was why she had made her base there.
Our first night, the four of us had stuffed our face on cheap and greasy food that was available for drone delivery, then slept for what felt like an age. I still wasn’t quite sure how the four of us managed to fit on a queen bed, and yet somehow, we did. Our forms were all pressed against each other, but somehow the contact was comforting instead of uncomfortable. I guessed that after so much time without human touch, we were more than a little touch-starved. Or maybe it was just PTSD setting in and needing some form of comfort from people we trusted. Either way, we were out cold for well into the next day.
We had awoken to a newly cleaned room and a full spread of food waiting for us. It was only then that I remembered that Mimic required far less sleep than we did. I couldn’t be more impressed with how kind and thoughtful she was that, after a whole year away from any humans at all, she still remembered much of our favorite breakfast foods.
I didn’t have much time to expound on her thoughtfulness, however, as we had plunged into planning immediately after that. Of course, we had all known we wouldn’t get away with the same plan we had previously, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t use the general outline, just with a few…tweaks.
After a whole lot of brainstorming, planning, and debating, that tweak turned out to be having Mimic disguise herself as General Santos and stealing his protected hovercraft so that she could pick us up and smuggle us in.
Surprisingly enough, the first part of our plan went off without a hitch, and Mimic had the vehicle in her position before we had even woken up on the third day. But now that we were crouched under the seats of the car, praying that the shielding inside the vehicle protected us from scanners, I was beginning to wonder if our plan was nearly as brilliant as I had thought it was.
We came to a stop and the window rolled down. I wished I could peek above the seats and see what was happening, but doing so cou
ld blow our cover and that was about the last thing I wanted to do.
“General Santos, sir,” a voice said. “We didn’t expect you here today.”
“Yes, I suppose that’s the point of a surprise walkthrough, isn’t it?” Mimic responded so perfectly in the man’s voice that it was a wonder she had only seen him on holos and listened to our descriptions of him.
“Yes, sir. Of course, sir. Badge, thumbs please.”
Mimic did as he asked, and I found myself holding my breath again. For all of our traversing across the universe and other shenanigans that we had gotten into, I didn’t know if her mimic ability would be able to fool Earth-level technology when it came to security. But the moment of truth passed without the alarm being sounded, and I heard the guard speak again.
“Thank you again, sir. Enjoy your walkthrough.”
Mimic made a sound that could barely be categorized and acknowledgement, and then we were lumbering forward again.
I couldn’t believe it! That had worked! Maybe our luck was finally coming back to us.
The minutes passed, and I felt us taking several turns as Mimic drove along the path we had mapped out for her previously. After a few minutes, she had us in the back lot that was adjacent to the same building holding the very ship we wanted.
She exited the vehicle and shut the door behind her. It didn’t take long for me to no longer hear her footsteps as she traveled away from us, and it seemed an eternity until she returned.
“Coast is clear,” she murmured.
We all piled out of the car, grateful for the cover of night. I didn’t know how long it would be before General Santos noticed that one of his more armored hovercraft was missing, but I guessed we had a few more hours considering Gonzales’s ex-liaison was visiting him again.
We crossed the flat expanse as quickly as we could while still walking naturally. In her time on Earth, Mimic had assembled quite the collection of uniforms for her different forms, and she had supplied us with a mixture of military, mechanical, and scientist outfits. Hopefully at a glance, we looked like the general and a high-level crew doing a quick overview of the place to make sure that everything was still in order. As long as someone didn’t look for too long, we would be just fine.
Why did I get the feeling that it wouldn’t work out that way?
I pushed that thought aside and focused. We were almost to the same door that had caused us quite the delay in the past. This time, it was Mimic who went first, sliding her card, scanning her fingerprint, and then her retina. But the main difference was, when she went through the door, she suddenly shifted into a great beast and ripped half of it off while it was open.
The partition still swung closed, which stopped it from tripping the alarm. However, a door didn’t do much good when there was a gap big enough for people to squeeze through, and that was exactly what the four of us did.
“Hurry,” Mimic said as soon as she returned to her Santos form. “I heard several heartbeats in the next room.”
I took a deep breath and nodded. It was the final chunk of our plan for getting the ship and I was reminded that even if we did successfully get on board, we still had to get out.
That thought just made me that much more anxious, so I shoved it down to be dealt with later. For now, I just needed to make sure we actually got onto the ship without being peppered with sedatives.
Just like before, we reached the garage-like door that separated us from our goal. I saw that they had replaced the lock, but Mimic wrapped her fingers around it and popped it off like it was nothing. It was easy to forget how strong she was considering her nonviolent nature, but perhaps a dead mistake for an enemy to make.
“Keep your faces down and try to look bored,” she said before marching forward like she owned the place. Perhaps I should have been so concerned with how easily she mimicked the vile man, but I was impressed instead. Clearly, she had learned quite a bit about the mannerisms of different people while we were parted.
“Present yourselves!” she bellowed, beelining straight for the biggest ship just like we had all those weeks ago. We heard scattered footsteps and a few concerned shouts, before five men armed with both blasters and tranq-guns ran out.
“General Santos!” one of them sputtered. “We did not expect you, sir!”
“That’s the point of a surprise walkaround, is it not?” She strode forward, hands clenched behind her back and shaking her head like she disapproved of something. “This is the ship those rebels tried to take, correct?”
“Sir, yes, sir!”
“And have you taken the necessary precautions to make sure that they didn’t otherwise manage to sabotage it before you detained them?”
“Yes, sir! Of course, sir!”
Boy, there was a whole bunch of shouting going on. I didn’t know if that was a military thing or if the men were just nervous, but either way, it took quite a bit of willpower not to roll my eyes.
“I’d like to see for myself. You and your men clear off the ship.”
“But, sir—”
“The only time I ever want to hear ‘but’ in my presence is if you’re describing the perfect woman from the back. And get me all of your inspection reports from every single day since those rebels dared step foot here.”
“Yes, sir!”
The men all half marched, half ran off, eager to get out of the authoritative man’s way. I couldn’t really blame them. I knew it was Mimic and even I was intimidated.
General Santos stood there, waiting until they completely disappeared down the hall before striding forward. Just like we planned, the four of us followed her until we were all safely on the ship.
“Bahn, scan the level for any more soldiers.”
The tallest of us murmured an agreeable sound and pulled out the ramshackle scanner that he had managed to build in Mimic’s hotel room. We waited breathlessly until the thing finally let out an affirmative beep.
“All clear.”
“Thank goodness,” Mimic breathed, losing her unflattering form to return to her standard female one. “I do not know much of you humans, but I know I did not like the type of man I just was.”
“Yeah, not exactly a winner,” Gonzales agreed, moving past us and speed-walking straight for the bridge. “Come on, we still got to get out of this place and those soldiers are going to be back at any moment.”
“Good point,” I agreed, hurrying after her.
We passed so many halls and rooms that I was sure I could wander around for a month and still not explore all of the ship. I couldn’t help but wonder what all of the space was for, but I quickly tucked all that line of questioning away as we finally reached the central hub of the cruiser.
“My goodness,” Ciangi breathed, looking around in wonder.
I agreed with her totally. The entire room was glistening, sparkling, and completely up to date. We never had anything so crisp and chrome on the colony, and I doubted we ever would. All of the seats were lushly cushioned, and there wasn’t a single crack in the laminate over any of the navigation panels. If there ever was a perfect mechanical creation, we were probably standing on it.
“Oh, come to me, baby!” Gonzales cried, nearly vaulting into the pilot’s seat. “I advise everyone to buckle up. If only because this is the only ship I’ve ever been on where every chair still has all its seatbelts.”
“How long do we have from the start of the engines to lift off?” I asked. “If there’s going to be a long delay, we’re going to need a distraction.”
“Long delay?” the woman shot back, sending me a cheeky grin. “Oh, honey, this is the latest and greatest in Mimic-inspired technology. Just hold on and get ready for the kick.”
“And where exactly is that kick going to take us?” Ciangi argued. “We’re in the building and it’s not like the shields are going to like taking a direct hit of these titanium-enhanced walls and ceiling.”
“That is your job, my favorite shotgun. You’re going to blast the walls with the io
n-cannons until there aren’t any walls anymore.”
“But doing so will probably collapse the roof, maybe even cause a fire. There’s a pretty good chance that we will destroy all of the ships here.”
“Good,” Gonzales answered, her grin growing predatory. “If those jerks aren’t going to give up the ships for the treaty, then they aren’t going to get to use them for themselves either. Enough talking now, get the cannons ready and everyone else hold on.”
Not for the first time in my life, I found myself running to a chair and quickly buckling both Mimic and myself in. I knew that the shapeshifter was more than capable of securing her own restraints, but I did it out of such habit that it wasn’t until after the buckle clicked in the latch that I realized what I had done.
“Sorry,” I murmured, securing myself.
But she just smiled up at me again. I didn’t think I had ever seen her grin so much at me, and I didn’t think I would ever grow tired of it. “Don’t worry,” she said idly. “I don’t mind.”
“Good.” Words just didn’t seem to do it in this situation, even though there was so much that I wanted to say. So instead, I just offered her my hand. Within seconds, her fingers laced through mine and she squeezed gently. Together, we looked to Gonzales and Ciangi as they prepped their necessary systems, content in just each other’s company.
“Weapons ready in three, two, one!”
I felt the ship hum below me and then suddenly the front visor view glowed a blinding blue. The next thing I knew, the wall in front of us was exploding outward in a hail of rubble and debris.
“Here we go!” Gonzales cried.
She wasn’t kidding. One moment we were sitting at rest, a mild rumble to the ship as it awoke from its slumber, the next we were hurtling forward so fast that I was pretty sure my soul was left behind—along with all of my other internal organs.
Gravity fought to hold us as we surged out of the hole we had created, rocketing up to the sky. We kept gaining momentum as we shot through the atmosphere. I could feel the ship rumbling and see the front of it growing red from the extreme fiction and duress we were putting it under. For the tiniest seconds, I was almost afraid that the ship was going to be a failure and we were going to shake to pieces without ever leaving Earth, but then the tension on us broke and we hurtled into the dark, cold void of space.
Mimic and the Fight for Freedom (Space Shifter Chronicles Book 3) Page 8