by Adam Moon
The captain shook his metal head. “We need him, damn it. His unit was best suited to command the manual weapons. If we ever needed him, it’s now.”
“You’re a heartless bastard. One of our own just died and all you can think about is how useful he was and how that affects you now that he’s gone.”
“That’s enough. We all might die without him and you know it.”
The first mate must have decided that now was not the time for one-upmanship. “I can operate the manual weapons.”
“Your aim is atrocious. Your tech isn’t designed for the guns. You’d do more harm than good, and I need you here with me anyway. We need Number Three.”
“Then let me transfer my consciousness to his unit.”
“No way. You know how dangerous it is to jump around from body to body. If I lost you we’d be dead in the water.”
Then the captain must have had an epiphany. “Wake up the most intelligent creatures and ask if any of them would like to volunteer to have their consciousness uploaded into Number Three’s mech. Only ask the ones that showed an appreciation of our cause. It’s hardly ideal but it just might work.”
“Good idea. Wake up all of bay two hundred and thirty-eight and I’ll be there to greet them.”
Chris was almost certain that bay two thirty-eight was not the one he was supposed to be housed in — though he didn’t know his bay number. He was not one of the most intelligent creatures on board the ship. Of that he was certain, as his abductors had made his shortcomings known at every turn. His human dignity was hurt by that realization. Back on Earth, he was used to being at the top of the heap. Again, he felt very small and infinitely insignificant.
Again, he wished he could go back in time and stop himself from accidentally volunteering to come on this journey. If he’d have held his tongue for just a second longer, Dave or Jackie would be here instead, and they’d probably be enjoying all of this crap a whole lot more than he was.
The ship tilted to the right after another hit from the Gray ships. He knew it was tilting because the star on the monitor slid out of view. Chris sure hoped that creating an omnipotent creature was worth this nonsense.
Last Resort
Five minutes passed before the first mate said over the loudspeaker, “They all refused to help. I guess I don’t blame them. I’m going to wake up the tall humanoid creature named Samda. She kept you so preoccupied that you weren’t able to keep the Gray from escaping, so she’s responsible for the mess we’re in. I won’t give her a choice but to help us. Wake her up and I’ll go fetch her. We should be back in five or ten minutes. Put two-thirty-eight back under.”
“God damn it,” the captain whispered. “They’re going to breach the hull any minute. This is taking too long. We’re being too cautious. Even an idiot could drive mech number three.” At that he turned to Chris and stared at him for a long time. Finally he said, “You refused to go into stasis. You haven’t helped us yet. Well, now it’s time for you to earn your keep, Earth-man.”
Chris shook uncontrollably. He had little idea what the captain expected of him, but he was aware that it would be too much for him to handle.
The captain turned and said to his number four, “Take the mechanical unit and the Earth-man to the transfer bay.”
Number Four grabbed Chris by the shoulder and led him towards the empty mech. He picked up mech number three with three of his tentacles and dragged it behind him as he shoved Chris down the corridor.
Chris felt like crapping his pants. This was all too sudden and he was all too inexperienced at fighting space battles, whatever that might entail.
Number Four said to him, “It’s painless. Don’t worry about it. Once the transfer has taken place, I’ll walk you through how to operate your new body. I hope you’re a quick learner.”
Chris shook his head. He wanted to beg and plead. He wanted to tell them that they were making a mistake. But his voice was clogging in his throat, the words coming thick and indecipherable, tripping over each other before they could escape. His vision was going in and out like he might pass out at any moment. He wanted to run away but there was nowhere to go. In the end, he let it happen because he realized there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Transfer
Bay
Chris let Number Four lead him like a child to a small, well-lit room tucked away at the end of the labyrinthine corridors.
There was a tall, wide dock set into the wall, just the right size to holster the mechanized unit. Number Four hefted Number Three’s unit into the dock and attached some cables and plugs as Chris watched in silence. Then he ran a quick system diagnostic on it and replaced two components with spares that were stored in a metal drawer. Chris looked closely at the damaged parts, but he couldn’t see anything wrong with them. They looked fine, but apparently they weren’t.
When Number Four was done, he turned on a panel of switches and touch-pads and got to work calibrating the empty unit, readying it for its newest occupant.
After a few moments, he nodded at Chris and said, “Go lie down on that.”
Chris looked to where Number Four was pointing and saw a large circular table nestled in the corner. It was the first time he’d noticed it. It looked to be made of white plastic and was lit up from underneath. Several metallic spheres and discs of different shapes and sizes dangled above it from various cables.
Chris thought about stalling, but he knew it would do no good. He walked to the table and started to undress until Number Four said, “What the hell are you doing? Just lie down.”
Chris felt like a dumbass as he zipped his pants back up and sat on the table.
When he’d sprawled out on his back, Number Four said, “I’m going to calibrate your brainwaves, but first I’m going to scrub Number Three to make sure no residual memories were left behind. You wouldn’t like it if there were. They’d either drive you mad or immobilize you. Neither option makes you useful to us. It’ll just take a few minutes. Hang tight.”
It was the most he’d heard from Number Four since he’d arrived, but he was oddly comforted by the talk. At least Number Four seemed to consider him worthy.
The captain yelled over the intercom, “Get it done, Number Four. We’re almost out of time.”
Number Four whispered, “Shit. Hold still.”
Chris asked, “Did you scrub the unit already?”
When Number Four ignored him he knew he hadn’t.
A metallic disc, about as wide around as his head, descended and hung just a couple inches from Chris’ nose. He was about to demand that Number Four scrub the unit when his mind screamed out in terror and his consciousness died in a flash.
Endless Assault
Admiral Chaybo was out of his chair, yelling instructions. “Spread the ships out. Each ship is to concentrate their firepower to one spot. This big bastard isn’t going to go down as easily as we thought.”
“How thick is that hull anyway?”
“So far it’s thick enough to withstand a full-on assault. Don’t worry, even the largest, thickest egg will eventually crack.”
“This might be a marathon rather than a sprint.”
“I’m fine with that. We can’t allow them to escape again. Get to work, people.”
Mechanical Man
When Chris awoke, he almost screamed. His entire field of vision was different. It was no longer binocular … but it was better: panoramic and highly focused. He moved his arm and saw it hover in front of his face. It was a metallic tentacle. He could feel several other arms just like it. At first it was tricky to isolate them but he soon got the hang of it. As he was waving his tentacles around like a madman, Number Four’s robot face swam into view.
He said, “Let’s get you to your guns. It’s time for you to do what this unit does best.”
Chris nodded his oversized head. It was odd that he had no desire to breathe. He tried to gulp but he couldn’t. It was strange to have such limited feeling in his extremities. But the weir
dest part was that there indeed was a foreign presence in his mind with him. He didn’t know if it was the past occupant or not, but it sure as hell wasn’t a part of him. The unit must have preserved a small part of Number Three’s consciousness, and since Number Four had decided scrubbing it would take too long, Chris was now stuck with it. He wondered if it was a part of him now. He wondered if it would come back with him when his consciousness was put back into his real body.
To see his lifeless body lying there on that plastic table was surreal. There was now an alien respirator over his fleshy, gaping mouth, and a series of tubes snaking from his veins.
Number Four saw him staring and said, “I put you on life support until you’re done. You’re safe. Now get to work.”
Chris jumped down from the docking bay and hit the deck with a dull thud. Somehow, he already knew where the main turret was located. It was in the command station. When he voice-activated it, it would descend from the ceiling. He wondered if the memory was that of the last occupant or if it was a built-in memory, available to anyone who wore the mechanical body.
He decided he didn’t care. Something profound had changed within him. He was eager to get to work. He was born for this, despite the fact that a few minutes ago the notion had scared him half to death.
His new body ached for action.
Warfare
When they got back to the command station, everything was in disarray. He didn’t remember the ship sustaining so much damage, but maybe it had happened while his thoughts were being transferred over.
Samda was standing beside the first mate. Apparently he’d woken her from stasis before he found out that the captain thought it was a terrible idea.
Chris couldn’t be certain but he thought he could detect fear in her smooth features.
She took a single, giant stride forward and placed her baseball mitt sized hand on Chris’ robotic shoulder.
She said, “You’d better do a good job, little Earthman, because otherwise we’re all going to die horribly.”
Chris ignored her and brushed the hand away. Instinctively, he said to the ship, “Give me turret controls.” It wasn’t instinctive to Chris but rather to the robotic suit he was residing within.
A circular hatch opened up like a mouth and a half-egg shaped seat descended under its own power until it was suspended in midair three feet from the floor with nothing to support it from above or below.
Chris didn’t hesitate. He sat in the half egg and it held his bulk easily. As soon as he was situated, his vision was taken over by the ship. The robot and the ship were now synced. He understood the figures scrolling across his vision even though he couldn’t consciously make out a single word or number. His body understood and his body reacted.
Suddenly his vision completely changed. He was no longer looking around the command station, he was floating above the ship, but he knew it was just a viewpoint and that he wasn’t actually outside; he was inside a turret. No, that wasn’t quite right, he was a part of the turret, virtually. There were no controls because he was the control interface.
He directed all of his willpower into focusing on the nearest Gray ship and fired with his mind. The turret twitched and moved around as Chris targeted key areas of the ship. Again, he didn’t know where the Gray ship’s weaknesses were, but his mech did.
The Gray ship started to turn its guns on the turret, but before it could get a lock, it was rendered immobile. Chris somehow knew that the creatures inside were dead or dying, because he’d destroyed their life support and knocked a large enough hole in their hull to suck out whatever atmosphere it had held.
He didn’t dwell on it. He swiveled about and as soon as another Gray ship came into view he fired with all of his might. He saw regular projectiles hurtling towards the Gray ship and he saw energy beams slicing it like a lime, sizzling as they cut it to ribbons.
He twirled around again and saw another Gray ship just as it fired at his turret. He gave them all he had, and after a terrifying minute, watched as the Gray ship flung itself to pieces.
He spun around but the other three Grays must have been on the other side of their ship.
He yelled out, “Flip this tub on its belly.”
He heard the captain’s disembodied voice call out, “Spin it on its axis.”
As the ship turned about, Chris saw the first Gray ship already focusing fire on a different gun turret, so he was able to use the element of surprise and take it out before it could pinpoint his whereabouts.
When it was destroyed, he said, “Keep turning. I don’t see the others.”
After a bloated moment of silence the captain’s voice came to him: “They fled. Good work, Earth-man.”
Retreat and Adapt
Admiral Chaybo screamed, “What the hell happened? I thought we had them dead to rights.”
His second in command was still nursing a bruise and a wicked gash he’d received during the attack. He said, “We were doing well until that turret started firing.”
“We’ve seen that turret in action before, but never like that. How can we hope to destroy them when they’re so well defended?”
“We can’t stop, Admiral. We must destroy them.”
“We have just these two ships at our disposal now. We’ll regroup, gather some reinforcements, and figure out a bigger and better plan of attack. We’re lucky to even be alive.”
Job Offer
Chris’ vision changed again and he saw the command station spinning around rapidly. The spinning slowed after a few seconds and finally stopped. He stood from the half-egg seat. He wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but he had no breath, or lungs to expel it.
Samda grinned at him and said, “You’re a natural.”
The captain added, “Even Number Three didn’t have the reflexes you have. I’m sorry I underestimated you. You saved our butts when I thought all hope was lost.”
Chris laughed and said, “I’ve never killed an alien before, but it was us or them, right?”
The captain nodded.
“It felt so easy.”
The captain said, “I think I’d like to offer you a job, if you’re open to the idea.”
“If it means I don’t have to go into stasis, then I’m in.”
Samda chimed in, “I won’t be going back into stasis either. You bastards can try to force me, but I guarantee I’ll put up a bigger fight than before.”
The captain took a menacing step towards her, but Chris said, “Let’s make that another condition of me accepting your job offer. Samda gets to stay here.”
The captain stopped just as Samda raised her meaty fist.
He shrugged and said, “The mission was going perfectly until I picked you two up. I accept your conditions, Earth-man, if only to get past this and get back to work. When we’re all done, you’ll be transferred back to your body and you’ll both have to supply a genetic sample. Do you both understand me?”
“Of course,” Chris said, as Samda nodded and smiled at him devilishly.
An odd thought crossed Chris’ mind. For the first time he wondered what she looked like naked. Then again, whatever was hidden beneath her clothing would probably shock and frighten him, so maybe it was better left to his imagination.
An image of his girlfriend back home popped into his mind’s eye. Megan would be pissed if she knew how easily he’d gotten over her. But the knowledge that he’d probably never see her again convinced him not to dwell on her. Plus, she was a cheater that didn’t deserve his faithfulness. But a huge alien was hardly a replacement for a mate from his own race, even if said mate was an unfaithful bitch.
Then he wondered how long he’d been gone from Earth. It was impossible to know. But he was certain that it was long enough for Megan to have moved on.
So why shouldn’t he?
He looked Samda in the eyes. She was beautiful, but even though she was perfectly proportionate, she was still twice his human size. In the mechanized unit, though, they were equals in stature.
She saw him looking her over and shook her head. She moved closer and whispered, “You’re not my type. In fact, you’re not even the same species.”
When he looked at her face she was smiling coyly.
“You can’t stop me from fantasizing,” he said, emboldened. The suit was apparently making him arrogant.
She smirked. “I guess not. But don’t go thinking that because you’re wearing that robotic suit now, you can overpower me.”
He shook his head. The notion appalled him. He wasn’t even sure if the robot suit had a dick. “That’s not how my species does things, usually. We need mutual agreement.”
“Good. Because I don’t agree.”
“Okay then.” The conversation had gone from playful to weird and Chris didn’t like it.
The captain said to them, “Stop flirting and get ready to make some repairs.”
Samda moved back against the wall and stared at her feet.
The captain sidled over to her and whispered conspiratorially, “If you wanted to, I could convert his DNA to something viable and create a sort of hybrid creature in a lab that’s a perfect mix of both of your races. Your two species are very similar so it wouldn’t be too difficult. I’d do it after our mission was concluded, of course.”
Samda smirked and was about to say something, but she held her tongue and nodded her head as though she would think it over later. Her entire species was extinct so maybe this was one last hope at rekindling it, in an odd, diluted way. It was nice to know that there were still some options left to her.
Though when the captain added, “I’ll only do so if you are cooperative during this mission and help us if you’re called upon,” she knew it was a lie to buy her allegiance.