Escape 1: Escape From Aliens

by T. Jackson King

  Jane turned, pointed her red cube at the oval door and led the way out into the access hallway. “Good. Hauling two armored armadillo folks by myself is not my preference. And I already knew you were a Boy Scout. Follow.”

  He followed.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Five minutes after they finished loading the Doman into the collector pods, Bill and Jane were back on the Command Bridge. The woman had chatted easily with him while they transported the two taser-zapped Doman, her manner relaxed and friendly. She’d even put her hand on his shoulder as he backed away from loading a Doman into the second collector pod. The warmth of her hand had jerked him out of duty mode and into romance mode. He’d turned, smiled at her, then leaned forward to kiss her. She’d looked surprised, but had not pulled back. In fact the passion of her deep kiss had made him hope they could share more. But then she pulled away with a sigh. Her eyes had scanned him warmly, then she’d tapped her shoulder as if to remind him of her invisible captain’s bars. He’d followed her back up to the front of the ship. Now, they both sat at their function stations, keeping busy as best they could

  “New information!” called Star Traveler. “A Collector ship has arrived in this system! It appeared north of the ecliptic. Its vector course is aimed at the Doman home world. It will be aware of us as quickly as we detected it.”

  Shit! Bill scanned the system graphic. A purple dot did indeed occupy a spot far north of their own track along the system’s plane of ecliptic. The ship’s distance was seven AU out from the star. Which meant it had farther to travel than they did. Barely. “Captain, Collector ship is confirmed. Presently we are 6.94 AU out from the star. Which is almost the distance to the Doman world. That planet orbits close to the star at 0.2076 AU.”

  In the holo to his right Jane’s expression was one of frustration. “Fuck! We’re already committed to returning the two Doman. But the other ship will arrive just minutes after we do. Which forces us to share—”

  “Neutrino signal incoming,” Star Traveler said.

  “Accept it,” Jane said, her tone command intense.

  “Collector ship Hard Shell and Captain Diligent Taskmaster, this is Collector ship Warm Nest,” spoke a voice that sounded harshly mechanical. “It appears you arrived here first. Do you wish to collect your captives before we launch our pods?”

  Jane blinked, then the muscles in her face went tense. “Collector ship Warm Nest, I am Captain Jane Yamaguchi of the species Human. Captain Diligent Taskmaster transferred command of his ship to me upon payment of many Nokten crystals. I renamed this ship as Blue Sky.”

  A click came over the neutrino comlink. “Welcome to captive collecting, Captain Jane Yamaguchi,” said the mech voice. “I am Captain Dok Torsen of the Melun species. I regret the error. Your ship’s neutrino emitter still carries the old ship name and captain. Which of us will be first to collect captives?”

  “My ship of course,” Jane said firmly. “But there are millions of these ground-hiding Doman on the planet. There are plenty for us both.”

  “True,” the mech voice said. “When we arrive we will occupy an orbit on the opposite side of the world from your position. That way our collector pods will not interfere with your pods.”

  Jane’s face looked wet, as if she were sweating. “That is sensible. May your hunt go well.”

  New clicking sounded. “The same to you, ship Blue Sky.”

  Jane frowned. “Cut that neutrino comlink.”

  “Link closed,” Star Traveler said. “Captain Jane Yamaguchi, I will not participate in the taking of captive people.”

  She sat back in her captain’s seat, her frustration obvious. “Star Traveler, neither I nor anyone on this ship will seek to collect captives on the Doman world. Or anywhere else. What you heard me say to the other Collector ship was a lie. A non-truth. Understand?”

  A low hum filled the Command Bridge. “Understood. Relief is expressed. Shall I change the neutrino emitter carrier wave to reflect this ship’s new name and you as the captain?”

  “Yes!” Jane said harshly. “I thought you had already done that. And do not contact the other ship’s artificial mind. Not yet. I hope we can arrive at the Doman world, deliver our two captives to safety, then leave this system before the other Collector ship discovers we are not what they think.”

  More humming came. “This telling of a non-truth was done to allow the safe return of the two Doman captives?”

  “Yes, Star Traveler,” Jane said patiently. “If we are lucky, we will arrive before the other ship and then depart without that ship attacking us.”

  “Why would the Collector ship Warm Nest attack us?” asked the ship mind.

  Jane grimaced. “It might attack us because once we return the two Doman I plan to make a radio broadcast to the Doman people warning them of the danger from Collector ships! I suspect the other captain will not be pleased at our interference with his efforts to collect captives.”

  A low hum sounded. “You bioforms move in strange ways. Your thought patterns are most challenging. However, I support your untruth telling since it allows the return of captives and may prevent more captive-taking.”

  Jane wiped sweat from her forehead. Then she tossed her black mane of hair. “Thank you, Star Traveler.” She looked forward. “Engineer Time Marker, try to increase our Magfield drive speed to something beyond one-tenth lightspeed.”

  The electric field around the Slinkeroo’s black skin expanded outward. “This ship’s two Magfield engines require careful modulation,” the walking snake hissed. “It may be possible to increase our speed by one or two percent. Pushing the coils further will result in the loss of magfield integrity. One or both engines could die.”

  Jane licked her lips. Multiple emotions flashed over her pale face. “Thank you for that guidance, Engineer Time Marker. Do with the Magfield engines only what is safe to do.”

  To Bill’s right the Megun woman Bright Sparkle looked his way, her expression worried. He didn’t blame her. The odds of another space battle had just gone up to near certainty. While he hoped they could arrive, offload the two Doman and leave before the arrival of the other Collector ship, he was not going to count on it. Which meant he should activate two drones so they could monitor the other ship from either side of the planet’s equator. Keeping your opponent ignorant of what you are doing while knowing what he is doing was a basic element of military tactics. Whether on the land, under the sea, in the air or in space, advance knowledge was often the key to success. And to survival.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  They arrived at the Doman home world while the other Collector ship was still incoming. But its one-tenth lightspeed velocity meant it would arrive within fifteen minutes. Bill tapped his control pillar and launched two drones toward the east and west sides of the planet. His feet felt the vibration of the electromagnetic launchers in the room below them. He gave a wave to Jane, who had approved his drone watchdog plan. Then he scanned the true space holo in front of him.

  The Doman planet was the size of Earth, had oceans at its north and south poles, and three large continents filling its middle. Continental drift had built up massive mountain chains in each continent, from which flowed large rivers. Cities occupied the junctions of rivers with other rivers, and where they exited onto a coastline. A few cities sat on high plateaus like Salt Lake City and Denver. But the cities did not resemble New York, Tokyo or London. Instead, they were spread out groupings of domes, blocks and glass-like tubeways. The species aversion to open sky had carried over to its buildings and transport, which avoided any exposure of armadillo folks to the open sky. Based on the metal ships at the ports and the rudimentary roads that connected cities with farms, forests and lakes, Bill guessed the Doman culture was in a late industrial age, equal to Earth’s late 1800s. While there were no satellites in orbit, he assumed there would be telescopes and watchtowers galore.

  “Long Walker, open the pod chamber and send off the two collector pods,” he said. “Program them
to deliver our guests to a night side forest. That way, when they awaken, they won’t have to worry about Sky Birds snatching them up.”

  The giant worm lifted up its front arm-leg pair and tapped on the control pillar before it. “Collector Pods Chamber opening to space. Pods ejected. Powered up. Heading for the night side of this world,” it moaned in a low bass. “Strange how this culture still fears the Sky Birds. Surely it has some kind of long distance weapons capable of taking down such creatures?”

  Bill had thought the same thing when first he’d seen the cities, ships and black-smoking industrial plants. Artillery was not that hard to make, nor was black powder a great mystery. But they knew nothing of the Doman culture. It was possible the armadillo folks were passive to a degree where they never thought of defense by way of a good offense. In his right holo Jane shook her head slowly.

  “I wonder the same. But it is something we will not know.” She paused, turning thoughtful. “Star Traveler, the spark gap radio transmissions. Are they coming from one or more of the cities? And can you decipher their words based on the language spoken by our guests?”

  “I can. And they are,” the ship mind said, sounding bored. “Two cities on the continent below seem to be signaling to each other. Three cities on the continent on the night side are also transmitting to each other.”

  “Good to know there will be someone listening when I broadcast my warning.” She looked forward. “Navigator Lofty Flyer, what is the estimated arrival time for Collector ship Warm Nest?”

  The flying squirrel leaned forward as she scanned her status holos. “It is coming in from north of this planet. Or from treetop level, as we Aelthorp call it. Arrival time to low orbit is nine minutes.”

  His captain gave a sigh. “Damn. Wish those collector pods went as fast as this ship! Guess we wait.”

  Long moments later Long Walker bent its worm head to scan something on its control pillar. It looked up at one of the holos in front of it. “Captain, the two collector pods have returned from the world below. They are intact. Now entering the Collector Pods Chamber. They . . . are locked down in the chamber,” the Zipziptoe creature moaned.

  “Yes!” Jane snapped. “Star Traveler, transmit my usual warning about Collector ships, white glowing pods in the night sky and the need to protect their people from folks like Diligent Taskmaster. Warn them about the arrival of Warm Nest!”

  “Transmitting on the spark gap radio frequencies,” the AI said.

  “Captain,” called Bright Sparkle with a soothing flow of rainbow colors. “Will your warning do any good? If these people do not fight against the Sky Birds, will they make any effort to oppose collector pods sent down by this Collector ship?”

  Jane turned and focused on Bill’s neighbor. “Fusion Chief, your concern is my concern. But the warning is sent. The Doman will do, or not do, whatever they choose.”

  Bill had his eyes fixed on his system graphic holo. It showed the planet below them and space out to a million miles. A small moon orbited at 130,000 miles out. Nothing else showed on the graphic—but the purple spot of the Collector ship suddenly appeared on the outer edge of the zone. Moving at a speed of 67.1 million miles per hour, it would arrive at low orbit in a little less than one minute. Then he saw what he’d feared.

  “Captain! The Collector ship will be here in ten seconds! It’s at 90,000 miles out. And its vector course has jinked sideways to aim directly at us!”

  “Damn!” she cursed. “Engineer, move us—”

  “Incoming neutrino signal!” called Star Traveler.

  “Accept it,” Jane said while gesturing to the electrified snake that they should move downward, out of their equatorial orbit. More seconds passed.

  “Ship Blue Sky, you betray all Collectors!” roared a loud mech voice. “But your betrayal will be short-lived! Taste the anger of Captain Dok Torsen!”

  Bill’s true space holo flared greenly.

  “Ship is hit!” Star Traveler said. “Hull is ruptured above the Containment Unit Chamber!”

  “Take us down and behind the planet!” Bill yelled. Then he tapped Fire for the two nose lasers. The true space holo showed two green beams lancing out at the oncoming Collector ship. Which was now at 9,000 miles out and closely faster than he could think. But his instincts worked faster than thought. A second tap sent a stream of black antimatter directly at the enemy ship.

  Much happened nearly instantly.

  The Blue Sky sped south at one-tenth lightspeed, its vector curving to skim the planet’s atmosphere.

  A second volley of green laser beams came at them but were disrupted by the Doman world’s upper air.

  Just before they lost direct line of sight, Bill saw a yellow-white flare. Which disappeared. But his two drones had electro-optical eyes on the enemy ship. They told him what had happened.

  “Captain! The Warm Nest is totally vaporized! It ran right into my antimatter beam!”

  “Hoooly shit,” Jane whispered. “That was close. Too, too close. Navigator, put us on a vector heading south out of the ecliptic! Engineer, move us at full speed! I don’t want to be around in case that Collector launched thermonuke torps our way!”

  “New vector established,” chittered Lofty Flyer, her voice tone shaking.

  Looking right Bill saw the electric nimbus field around the walking snake expand to six feet out from its black skin. The field nearly touched Bright Sparkle on one side and Purposeful Guide on the other side. “Maximum ship speed accomplished!” hissed the four-footed Slinkeroo.

  Bill checked the system graphic. As they pulled south of the planet, the graphic scale changed to show the planet, the nearby moon and all space out to a million miles. No purple spot. However, his two drones, left to orbit the Doman world until some other ship arrived, showed a view of the world’s northern hemisphere. Bright red and yellow streaks filled the air above the continent with the spark gap transmitters. The sweat on his neck felt cold. But welcome.

  “Captain, the drones confirm the destruction of the Collector ship. Some fragments are now descending through the Doman atmosphere. They will look like meteor streaks to folks on the ground.”

  Jane, her expression worn and a bit haggard, gave him a wave of acknowledgment. “Bill, thank you. You saved us with that antimatter blast.” Her hands, which were white knuckle bright from her gripping of the armrests, relaxed. “Star Traveler, dispatch repair robots to seal the hull rupture above the Containment Unit Chamber.”

  “Robots dispatched,” the AI said, its tone sounding worried. “The ship’s hull integrity will be restored before we depart for another star system.”

  “Damn well better be!” Jane said loudly. Looking his way, her manner softened. “Weapons Chief Bill MacCarthy, thank you. Consider yourself commended for superior performance.”

  He gave her a grin and a nod. “Captain, it is your leadership that motivates me. Freedom is what we sought when we escaped from our cells. Freedom is what we have given to our returned captives. And freedom is what other planets and other people deserve!”

  “Agreed.” She sat back and closed her eyes. “But that discussion can wait until we reach the edge of this system’s magnetosphere. Until then, I’m standing watch.”

  Bill scanned his system graphic and true space holos once more. The graphic’s scale had expanded to cover the entire system. Nothing showed, even as far out as the seventh planet’s orbital. Once more the Doman system was quiet, peaceful and contained only their ship. And their people. He tapped the pillar controls. “Captain, I’ve set my station to automatic monitoring. With your permission, I’m heading back to the Food Chamber. There’s some bottles of Alien beer in the room’s cooler. Want a drink?”

  “Damn right I do!” she said, opening her eyes and giving him a smile. “Maybe we all do. Bring back enough bottles for everyone on this Command Bridge!”

  Bill got up and headed aft for the hallway access door. “Will do. Until then, how about running another podcast from Prairie Home Companio
n? I think our shipmates need some light humor.”

  His Alien crewmates made a variety of sounds in response to Bill’s suggestion. The sounds were hard to decipher. No matter. For him and Jane, Garrison Keillor was just right!

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  An hour before they reached the seventh planet’s orbital track, the surprise happened.

  “Captain,” barked Purposeful Guide. “Before this ship departs for the Market world home system, should we not consult with our three passengers? They may wish to be returned home, rather than share our long trip out to Kepler 443.”

  Bill felt surprise at the comment by the kangaroo reptile. When the crew had gathered together for meals in the Food Chamber, or for relaxing in the Greenery Chamber, the Alien had said little. He’d wondered if the male felt put down by his assignment to monitor the Life Support functions of the Blue Sky. That work involved frequent monitoring of the Air Production and Recycling. Which meant paying attention to the oxygen to CO2 ratios, infusion of fresh oxy from the Greenery Chamber, and being sure the Waste Recycling Chamber conveyed fresh manure to Greenery. From his work with scuba regulators and air mixtures he had a sense of the delicacy of such work. But the Alien had managed an orbital complex in his home system. Perhaps he felt managing the systems of the Blue Sky was too simple a job. Or maybe he was just homesick.

  Jane sat forward in her elevated command seat and fixed on the Cheelan. “Purposeful Guide, thank you! Of the ten of us now left on this ship, three have not been needed at crew functions.” She looked Bill’s way briefly, gave him a nod, then pursed her lips. “Star Traveler, connect me with the habitat rooms or other locations where the bioforms not in this room are now located.”