by Joe Crouch
“Ma’am, your reservations are founded in facts and records, to say I had the utmost confidence in my own abilities would be a lie,” he admitted, Fez looked over with a sympathetic glance. “But I know what I lack in technical experience I make up for in sheer will alone, and I will not let my race down.” Impressed with the candour, the President nodded in appreciation.
“I couldn’t have said it better myself, and I appreciate the honesty,” she paused, shifting in her seat, “Plus the story alone will have the media eating out the palms of our hands for anything and everything we throw at them.” He couldn’t help but roll his eyes, they’re always playing some angle he thought. The public had since learnt of the real incident above Earth, at least a version that had been spun by the government. Its version including the valiant Terran Empire Fleet holding its own against an unprovoked alien incursion, the newcomers - The Ioutions - Arriving towards the end to help clean up. There had been some major disturbances across the globe including riots and looting, but there was an odd sense of planetary pride, too. ‘We fought off an alien invasion’ was the average public perception based on the twisted scraps of information they had been fed.
The President rose from her seat and smoothed her suit down, stopping before the exit, she looked over her shoulder, “Do us proud.” Nodding, he felt a sense of pride in the assignment he had been given, however overwhelming it may be.
“So, shall we go, hero?” Fez smirked, chuckling to himself. The assignment may have seemed without risk on the surface - He was a glorified diplomat - but he knew that being stationed on a warship that was actively involved in a war was rarely without risk. Close on Fez’s heels, the pair strolled out from their waiting room and proceeded down the snaking hallways that made up the facility.
Fez danced around the shuttle making his pre-flight checks prodding at various blisters that lined the underside of the vessel. Sean climbed aboard and saw Yumie sat in the cockpit, speaking to what appeared to be a form of holographic communication. The image of a well-dressed Ioution stood atop a pulsating blue panel as he communicated with the pilot. Taking the time to explore the shuttle, he wandered about inspecting the various instruments and displays that were scattered about. Satisfied, he took his seat and peered through the porthole next to him, this may be the last time I see the old girl for a while he thought. Pushing back emotion, he watched as Yumie fiddled with the indecipherable controls, preparing the shuttle for flight. Finishing his checks, Fez stepped aboard and gave Sean a compassionate smile.
“I know you feel apprehension now,” Fez remarked, “But we will be busy and your role here is an important one, if you ever need to return we can be back here within the week.” He had felt bad about leaving people behind, his family and friends, not being able to visit them before being whisked away was painful, but advisors had ensured him they would be taken care of, but for their own safety he couldn’t visit.
Fez took the seat adjacent and strapped himself in, tucking his feet under the chair. The excitement coming from Sean was palpable, peering up, Fez couldn’t help but smile at the Human sat there, practically bouncing in his seat ready to get into his new role. Moments later the ramp outside the shuttle rose and vanished into the ship’s belly while the door hissed closed.
“Is everyone ready?” Yumie shouted while craning his neck around the cockpit entrance.
“Would it matter if I wasn’t?” Sean replied, drawing a laugh from the pilot.
“No, it probably wouldn’t.” With this, the distinctive sound of the drives kicked in as the vessel was lifted off the landing pad, and with no warning, it kicked up sand as it sped off into the distance.
Once they had left Earth’s atmosphere and were making their way back to the Mar’Ell, Yumie motioned for Sean to come up to the cockpit.
“Want to try flying this thing?” he asked, stunned at the question, Sean raised his voice with excitement.
“I absolutely want to fly this thing; I’ve only ever gotten to pilot a land shuttle before.” Climbing out of the pilot’s seat, Yumie moved over to the side and allowed Sean to sit, the chair moulded to his body to provide comfort and stability. Yumie pointed to two glowing balls built into the console and a headpiece.
“Put that on your head first.” Needing no further pushing, he grabbed the headband and slid it onto his forehead.
“It’s too big for me,” he agonised. Without warning the equipment snapped and tightened around his forehead. Eventually, the device loosened and found the perfect size, which sat comfortably on his smaller head.
“Now, place your hands on these two objects, your mind will be doing most of the work, but they will be able to give you finer control.” Relaxing and grabbing the spheres, he willed the ship to move. Nothing happened. Pushing both objects forward, the shuttle accelerated drastically and pitched down in a sharp motion, the whining of the engines rippled through the ship. The nose pointed down and the craft sped into a series of quick loops before Yumie grabbed the controls and stabilised the ship. Moving Sean out the way, he regained control and sat down.
“Stick to being a pretty face,” Yumie raged.
“That just comes naturally,” Sean retorted, running a hand through his non-existent hair. He stepped out of the cockpit and took a seat, making sure his straps were fastened. Glancing over, he saw Fez doubled over, rocking back and forth, “You alright, Fez?” he questioned. Fez’s head rose in a pained manner, his silvery skin appearing to discolour a little.
“Am I alright?... Am I alright, are you alright in the mind, Earthling!” Fez barked, choking back saliva that had gathered in his mouth. Sean broke out in a fit laughter, shouting up to Yumie letting him know what his ‘piloting’ had accomplished. Leaning over to a small box, Fez took out a small pill and swallowed it whole, “I’ll be fine” he huffed while closing his eyes and leaning back into his seat.
A few moments later, the Mar’Ell became a faint glimmer in the distance as it came into view, behind her slip-space tears formed as the other Ioution ships left orbit and returned to where they had come from. Yumie guided the shuttle towards an illuminated section of the hull and let go of the controls. A light flashed on his console letting him know that the automated landing sequence had taken over and was guiding the ship. The tidal forces of the grav systems could be felt throughout the ship. Landing with a clang, the hatch popped open and the ramp lowered, a stifled bang coming from it as the lip touched down on the flooring of the shuttle bay. Both rising, Fez and Sean walked down the ramp in unison, “This is it, Earthling, your adventure begins here.”
Adventure Sean thought that’s exactly what I’m looking for…
Chapter 6
Sean’s eyes opened and darted around the room as he awoke, where am I he panicked. Throwing his legs off the side of the bed, his feet touching the warm floor snapped him out of his delusion, he was aboard the Mar’Ell and found himself sat on the edge of the bed in his assigned quarters. The room was bare, it had a bed, a wardrobe, table and chairs, a shower and not much else. “Sari, lights up,” he slurred, the lights sparked into existence, bathing the room in a cool glow. Sari was the ship's artificial intelligence, it tracked everyone's movements aboard the ship, their health and more.
Pushing himself up off his bed, he rose to his feet and stepped into the shower. It didn’t work like a conventional Earth shower, this used a sonic wave at a resonating frequency to physically push the dirt off the skin, it was an odd sensation like someone was brushing his entire body with something coarse, like a pumice stone. It had been a couple of days since they had departed Earth, the first day he spent sleeping, his body needing the recovery time after everything that had happened. Yesterday he got familiar with the ship's AI, Sari, but not much else, everyone seemed busy ensuring systems were stable while they were in slip-space flight.
Sean stepped out from the shower and walked towards his large wardrobe. The engineer aboard the ship, Farel, had replicated all the oak furniture in his room, he wa
sn’t overly keen on the choice of material, but he let it slide. Opening the doors, he pulled out his uniform that had been supplied by the navy back on Earth. Pulling on his underwear and grabbing a shirt that he had thrown over the back of a chair, he got dressed, ready for anything the day could throw at him. Finally, he waved a hand over an empty piece of wall, its entire surface turned reflective, he eyed himself up and down, adjusting his collars and the bottoms of his trousers before sitting down at his desk and thumbing through the list of drinks on the replicator that had been placed in his quarters. I remember Fez saying something called a ‘mieno’ was the closest thing they had to tea, he thought. Double tapping its name on his personal computer, a loud whining sound came from the machine as if it were printing the actual molecules.
Picking up the newly created glass of mieno he relaxed back into his office-like chair. His gaze turned to the large artificial window that looked ‘outside’ the ship, a thick blue wave skimmed over the hull as the entire ship was enveloped in the slip-space field. Taking his first sip, he was pleasantly surprised, the drink wasn’t that close to tea, but it still had an appealing sweet but smoky taste to it. Before he could get too settled, a beeping interrupted his thoughts, he turned his head to see a bright flashing light beside his door – Someone was requesting entrance. “Sari, unlock my quarters,” the door hissed open and stood there was an upbeat Fez, a large grin scrawled across his face.
“Good morning, Earthling, I hope your first real night wasn’t too uncomfortable.” How could it be, Sean thought, his bed had moulded itself to every position he turned into, supporting his body perfectly, providing one of the best night’s sleep he had ever enjoyed.
“I’m not so sure, Fez, it felt like I was sleeping on a bed of small rocks,” Sean smirked, the alien gave him a blank stare. “Anyway, what’s got you so happy?” Fez could barely contain himself as he strolled over towards the door’s terminal.
“You know that video call we had before you ‘exited’ the program last night?” Fez asked, getting an affirmative response from Sean, wondering where this was going. “Well…” Fez’s smile grew wider by the second, “You didn’t actually exit it, you added nearly everyone aboard to the call and shut your end of the screen down.” The pin suddenly dropped, had they all been watching him, seeing everything he did in his own privacy? By now, Fez was doubled up with laughter, regaining a moment of control, he spoke up again, “You press this button to exit the call.” Fez turned, exiting the room before any justice could be served, his laughter could be heard from down the hallway.
“I’ll get you back, Fez, watch your damn back!”
“Sure you will, Earthling,” he shouted, “Meet me in the cantina within twenty minutes.” Standing, he finished off the last drops of his mieno and threw the glass into a recycler near the door. From the information he could gather, they were heading back to an Ioution settled mining world on the outskirts of their influence, with the memorable name AEF-44. With a final stretch and groan, he was fully awake and ready for the day ahead.
He trudged down one of the many hallways that led to the cantina, noting the terminals that were waking as he passed, activating for his convenience and showing him a map of the deck he was on and a route to where he was going. Although slightly creepy that the computer was listening in to their conversation, he did note that it was a handy feature and continued on. He passed a few crewmembers he hadn’t seen before, the passive glares and uninterested nods he received as he walked by showed him that this was something that they had all seen in the past. Before long, his wrist computer beeped, telling him he had taken a wrong turn, he heard a yelling coming from down the hall, he turned and saw Yumie stood waving him down. Catching up to him, he followed the patient Ioution to the cantina.
Sensing him, the door hissed open as he approached. He peered over and saw Fez stand, motioning for the Human to come join him at his table. Weaving between the empty seats, he sat down near the back of the cantina, Fez looked the ambassador up and down, analysing his posture. “You seem lost, little one,” he remarked. Sean had to admit, he did feel a little out of his depth, after all, he was aboard a completely alien craft, travelling through interstellar space surrounded by creatures that he had no idea of how they worked or thought.
“Tell me something, Fez,” Sean spoke, “What does this ship actually do, I know you have obvious firepower, but when you’re not fighting, what do you get up to?” The captain leant back, impressed that the Human had taken a real interest in the ship, it wasn’t often a glorified delegate cared about anything while aboard, they were here just for the perks.
“That’s a good question. This ship is fleet support while in battles, we carry a light to medium armament, but focus more on stealth and our ECM capabilities.” Fez leant forward towards Sean, “When not on fleet operations, we serve as a rallying point and conduct our own surface ops as well as showing a presence near protected worlds.” Sean was surprised, who would need marines with firepower like this, he thought. But it was often the case, even in Human conflict, that melting an area from orbit with mass drivers wasn’t desirable. There would usually be a specific target either for extraction or elimination, and it was rare that they were standing in the middle of an open field with no civilians around them. Pushing the thought aside, he let Fez continue. “We usually have a detachment of specialised soldiers aboard for when we need to complete an objective without being detected,” Fez’s smile showed pride in his previous work, “The Mar’Ell is one of the stealthiest ships around by herself, but the fighter craft we have in the hangar are almost invisible.” Sean wondered to himself, he hadn’t seen anything there apart from the shuttle they used to go down to Earth and no obvious signs of storage of the fighters, letting it go, he focused back on Fez.
“Maybe you can show me how to pilot one of those babies,” he exclaimed, hopeful excitement coursed through his voice, “I’m a quick study,” he winked at Fez who could only roll his eyes, knowing the Human could never do it, but he decided to play along.
“Who knows, Earthling, when we have some downtime I may take you out for a test.” Whether he was being facetious or not, Sean couldn’t help but get his hopes up. He had always wanted to be a fighter pilot in the Terran Fleet, getting stationed on a carrier was nearly everyone’s dream as a kid, but he had failed multiple times in the past. He only got into the planet lander program by sheer luck, although when he arrived, he found himself surprisingly competent. A thought sprung to his mind.
“When I was stationed aboard the Arrakis, I was what our people called a ‘planet lander’, we weren’t quite special ops – More special police – But I’ve had experience in combat situations,” he sat forward, excited, “Maybe I can join one of these marine teams?”
“Absolutely not!” Fez scowled, “These teams are for the best amongst our people, not to be messed around with by an outsider.” Feeling slightly offended at his tone, Sean stopped, staring into Fez’s still angry eyes. He knew it was a long shot. The operations these teams embarked on were not only dangerous, but often contained sensitive material, and however much Fez and a few crew might trust him, he doubted Ioution superiors would take so kindly.
Sean felt his stomach growling, a cup of mieno was no breakfast. “So how do I go about getting some food in this joint?” Fez pointed towards a small device embedded into the table.
“Speak into that,” he smiled.
“I guess it doesn’t do a double bacon cheeseburger?”
“A double bacon what?” Fez asked, looking at him as if he had lost his mind.
“I think I’ll let you order for me,” he motioned towards the device, “Just please, make it something good,” Fez spoke up, his words making no sense to Sean. A few moments later, he noticed movement materialising out of the wall. A bipedal droid appeared carrying a plate of hot food in one hand, it made its way to the side where he sat and gently placed the plate down in front of him. His mind blown, he could do nothing but watch as t
he droid bristled off and melted back into what he thought was an average wall.
“I’m not even gonna ask,” he marvelled as he picked up the odd utensils that felt unnatural in his smaller hands and cut what appeared to be a meat of some kind. The texture wasn’t what he expected, it melted in his mouth after a couple of chews leaving a pungent taste, although it wasn’t unpleasant. He continued to eat without speaking, Fez looked on with a large grin on his face. Finishing his plate and pushing it away, he took notice.
“What’s with the grin? I thought it was actually alright,” he stated.
“That ‘meat’ you just ate, it’s a delicacy on a world where the inhabitants waste absolutely nothing.” He stood up, laughing, “It’s made entirely from animal waste, and not the waste of a carcas, either.” Sean could feel the bile rising through his system, gagging at the thought of what he had just eaten. “It’s perfectly safe, but many of our people have the same reaction as you,” Fez stated, with a chuckle still emanating from him. “Come on, I’ll show you around the ship a bit and get you accustomed to all the systems and areas.” Sean rose, wiping his tongue across the sleeve of his uniform.
They made their way through the almost barren hallways, the lights on the walls activated as the approached and deactivated as they moved away. They were headed towards engineering to speak with Farel, the engineer Sean had met the day before. As they moved closer, the almost universal sounds of clanging and scraping got louder. As they rounded the corner, a loud shout was followed by an expanding smoke plume that bellowed out the room.
“… Is this normal?” Sean asked, looking up to Fez.
“This is pretty quiet; from what I’ve seen.” Wafting the smoke away, they stepped over the small bulkhead and stood in the doorway of engineering. The area was massive, parts were strewn all over the floor, wings and larger components for shuttles and other ships sat propped up against every wall. Sean looked over towards Farel, he danced around a small fire that had enveloped whatever he had been working on, throwing around a device that was pouring some form of liquid over the affected area. Noticing them, Farel threw his equipment to the floor and came rushing over.