Skybound

by S. W. Gunn

  “What happened next?

  “The laser framing managed to damage my suit when it hit me so I was losing oxygen but I was able to pull myself back into the hangar bay. Once I got in Mark closed the doors and turned the gravitational controls back on.”

  “So what’s the plan now?”

  Johnathan answered, “Well I have to install all of my lasers.”

  Rose looked very confused as she asked in what sounded like a nervous tone, “You’re going back out there?”

  “I have to.” Johnathan replied firmly, “We are already up against heavy odds against these aliens and they get even worse without my lasers to defend the ship.”

  Her face shifted to a solemn look and after a long pause she said, “I know.”

  Rose gave him a soft kiss.

  * * * * *

  Johnathan crawled out of bed the next morning to the sound of Rose’s alarm. He noticed that his shoulder was feeling much better. No doubt the nanotechnology had probably healed him completely. He said nothing but immediately slipped on his workout clothing. Rose nodded at him as the headed out for their workout. His shoulder did ache through the program, even with what Johnathan suspected was Rose going easy on him. After their shower they ate breakfast before parting ways with a kiss. As soon as Johnathan got a distance away from the cafeteria Mark rolled up.

  “Johnathan I was analyzing the incident yesterday and I have designed and put in a replication modification to your design to ensure if you are within 2 meters of it the laser turret will not move.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “I really am so sorry for what happened.”

  “It’s fine Mark. I’m fine.”

  “I know but that one moment was quite revealing for me.”

  Johnathan tilted his head slightly to look at Mark’s podium before asking, “How so?”

  “I’ve never really felt what would be considered a human emotion but when you were dangling out in space and I was unable to do anything to help you, I felt what could only be described as panic. I was completely powerless for the first time that I could ever recall.”

  Johnathan stopped walking.

  “Mark I don’t know what to say. I know that I’d be upset if I couldn’t protect you too.”

  “It was quite a revelation for certain. Let us get back to work. We have an eco-ship to protect.”

  Johnathan chuckled before giving him a nod. Turning back down the hallway they began moving towards the replicator. Once they got to the replicator he was able to load four completed lasers, with another seven sitting in a storage unit nearby. That was half of the lasers he requisitioned. Pushing the dolly as fast as he could he moved to the upper hangar bay. Mark had mapped out an efficient map of locations on the outside of the eco-ship to allow maximum coverage of the exterior. Once he got to the hangar bay he put on the space suit. This one was a new one as the one from yesterday was damaged and reprocessed. Johnathan sealed the space suit tightly before attaching the harness to an automated winch that Mark would control.

  Mark’s voice echoed in the helmet, “Be careful out there.”

  Pushing talk button on his helmet Johnathan responded, “I will.”

  The gravity in the room cut off, which Johnathan could feel as he became weightless with only the magnetized boots of his space suit keeping him from floating upwards. He deactivated the magnets and began to float slightly upwards. Flicking the controls on the thrusters of the pallet holding the four lasers it began lifting off the surface of the hangar bay. Johnathan activated his space suit’s thrusters and followed the pallet upwards. Slowly and evenly he moved the pallet to the first location for a laser before connecting the pallet to one of the many anchors sprinkled on the exterior of the eco-ship. Removing one of the lasers from the pallet he nudged it closer to the planned location and connected it by tweaking the wiring to allow Mark to control it. It took him a few minutes to set it up and Johnathan made sure he was far enough away not to get hit by the laser again. Mark discharged the laser a few times, rotating the laser around testing it’s full range.

  “Okay Johnathan it appears ready.”

  “Let me check the output controls first then we’ll move onto the next one.”

  “Alright.”

  Johnathan tested the controls and everything looked great. He then moved back to the pallet which he unlatched and began to move to the next spot. Once all four of the lasers were installed and functional Johnathan went back to the upper hangar bay. The doors closed as he passed through them and once he was back on the surface of the hangar bay Johnathan could feel the gravity start up again.

  “The bay is clear” Mark’s voice echoed in Johnathan’s helmet.

  Johnathan removed his helmet which he set down next to the pallet. The air in the eco-ship was always crisper than the pumped and controlled air in the space suit. He glanced at his watch and saw that he had another hour and a half before it was time for lunch. Deciding that he had plenty of time he went back to the reprocessor with the dolly to get another two lasers. Installing both lasers went quite smoothly and he was left with enough time to remove his space suit before leaving to go wash his hands. Johnathan stepped into the cafeteria to see Rose was already sitting at the usual table that the command team sit at. He got his food, which was a fried fillet of a protein bar some fried potatoes and dipping sauce, and then sat down next to Rose.

  “How is your shoulder feeling?” She asked him.

  “Much better thank you.”

  She gave him a wide grin before asking, “And how is your work coming along?”

  “Good. I got another six lasers installed leaving me with fourteen left to go. I should have them all installed, tested, and ready to go the morning that the aliens enter firing range.”

  “Anything we can get to defend ourselves.”

  He gave her a slight nod before he began eating. This lunch was probably one of the less healthy meals that they serve in any of the cafeterias. It was protein bars fried in vegetable oil and it tasted great. Once the meal was over Johnathan got back to work. He guessed that he could probably install another six more to get himself more than halfway done which was a good thing since he had under two days until the aliens arrived. Spending the rest of the day working he was able to install seven more lasers until it was time to finish working for the day. He worked an extra two hours more than normal. During the entire time installing them he wracked his brain trying to come up with more things that he could possibly do to prepare the eco-ship for these aliens. Sadly nothing came to mind. After dinner, exercise, and spending some time with Rose he went to bed.

  Chapter 12

  Johnathan woke up the next morning and worked through his normal routine of doing his workout with Rose, eating breakfast, and then he headed right away to the reprocessor. He moved with a brisk purpose wanting to get as many of the lasers installed as he could. Mark recalculated the trajectory of the aliens and they still were supposed to arrive tomorrow morning. Johnathan planned to work to the last second in order to get the lasers installed. His day went smoothly and he got all of the lasers but one installed. He wanted to install it too but Rose asked him finish his work shift on normal hours. Once he finished for the day he removed his space suit and washed his hands before going to the cafeteria. Rose and the Command crew were not there yet so he got his dinner, a spicy thick stew with beans and chunks of protein bar that came with thin fried corn chips, before sitting down. The spicy smelling stew wafted to his nose. It had been a long time since he last ate it. Right as he dipped his first corn chip into the stew he spotted Rose enter alone.

  After getting her meal she slipped down next to him and said, “Hey John.”

  “Hey. How was your day?”

  She shrugged her shoulders before stating, “We’ve done everything that we can think of. We’ve got a battle plan and defensive setup. Based on the trajectory of the alien vessels they seemed to have separated from their primary formation. It appears that they’re goin
g to flank us on multiple sides. We set up the auditorium as a final defensive position for our mostly civilian crew along with positions on the bridge and main engineering. I’m hoping Mark is wrong about them attacking us but our scans of their vessels indicate a hodgepodge of materials on the surface of them. We think they’re scavengers and they aren’t peaceful.”

  “Wow that’s a lot. I just installed all of the lasers but one. I’ll install it first thing tomorrow.”

  “Just in time. Listen Johnathan I know you’re an amazing engineer but once you finish that laser I need you to immediately safely get to engineering. I can’t have you wandering around or getting hurt when these aliens attack.”

  Johnathan replied, “Alright.”

  They ate their meal in silence before heading back to Rose’s quarters. Rose grabbed him by the hand and tugged gently towards the couch in the center of the living room.

  As he sat down she slipped onto his lap and wrapped her arms around him before saying, “This could be our last night together.”

  Johnathan paused in shock. He had not even thought about it but she was right. They all could be dead tomorrow. He recovered quickly from his moment of shock and wrapped his arms around her. She hugged him tightly. They sat there hugging for some time before Rose released him.

  She looked into his eyes and said, “I guess tomorrow we’ll sleep in. My fitness program has molded you into quite a fit man, although I’d love another two weeks, so we can take a day off.”

  He laughed at her, which she responded to laughing as well. They laughed for a few moments before Rose hugged him again.

  “I wish I could just hug you forever.” She told him.

  He gave her a soft kiss on the top of her head before saying, “Me too.”

  She slipped off his lap and stood up before reaching out to take his hand. As she tugged on his hand Johnathan stood up and followed her to their bedroom.

  * * * * *

  He woke to her alarm, this time it buzzed slightly later than normal. He knew that he had to move quickly to get that last laser set up along the bottom of the eco-ship. After eating breakfast with Rose they had a long goodbye at the cafeteria before parting ways to finish their final preparations.

  Mark met Johnathan halfway at the reprocessor, “So what are we going to do after you finish setting up the last laser?”

  “Rose wants us to go to engineering in order to help out with any possible repairs.”

  “You should probably be at the secondary mainframe Johnathan. Your skills might be needed to ensure the computer keeps running.”

  Rubbing his chin for a moment Johnathan realized that Mark was right. He would be of much more use to the eco-ship by making sure that the computer, specifically Mark, was running the whole time. There were much better engineers when it came to repairing the eco-ship. Johnathan just gave Mark a slight nod. Once they got to the reprocessor he loaded the last laser onto his dolly and began to work his way down to the lower hangar bay. As he entered he stopped to reflect on the last time that he was there. It was when he went air skating with Rose. The thought of the moment caused him to stop walking and reminisce. He sighed because the odds were great that he could never live another moment with her like it again. In fact there was a good chance he could die today and never see her again. The thought brought a deep sadness into his heart.

  Mark’s voice interrupted his thoughts “Johnathan are you okay?”

  It took him a moment to recover before Johnathan replied, “Yes sorry I was just thinking about something.”

  “What?”

  “Today might be the end for all of us.”

  “Maybe but we can do our part to make it not be.”

  Johnathan shrugged before slipping on his space suit. He had to move quickly but needed to ensure he did not make any mistakes so he made sure to follow every step in putting his space suit on correctly. Once he was ready he brought the laser out to the location Mark planned and installed it. All of the testing was smooth and easy. His system was ready. Johnathan glanced around and looked in the direction he knew that the aliens were coming from. Off in the distance he saw a glimmer of moving light. They were far enough away that he could not see them but close enough that he was sure at the speed they were moving they would be there very soon. Johnathan sighed heavily before he activated his thrusters to get back in the hangar bay. Once he got back in the hangar and Mark resealed the bay doors Johnathan took off his helmet.

  As Johnathan collected up the space suit and dolly Mark announced, “They are almost here. You should hurry to engineering.”

  Johnathan asked, “Did they respond to any more attempts to communicate.”

  “No. In fact they are going full speed at us. They’ve split up and are approaching the eco-ship. One is aimed right at this hangar bay, you need to leave.”

  Walking briskly Johnathan headed towards to door. Mark’s podium was directly in front of him. As he passed through the doors leading into the hangar bay the entire ship rocked violently. Johnathan was tossed roughly into the wall opposite of the door, which knocked him to the floor. He glanced backwards into the hangar bay to see a massive metal spike that had ripped through the hangar bay door and now was protruding upwards and only a mere half a foot from the ceiling. Johnathan guessed it was about 6.4 meters tall and about 4.5 meters wide at the base.

  Mark’s voice called out, “Johnathan they have hacked the main computer. I had to route all vital information to the secondary mainframe and secluded my programming onto this podium. I tried to fight against their attempts but their computer technology was just too advanced.”

  Johnathan felt the eco-ship rock slightly again.

  Mark spoke, “They collided with the eco-ship in a variety of points. Most of which were designed access points. They had eleven vessels and our lasers took out four of them. The vessels were of various sizes and the smallest ones did not survive impact with the eco-ship leaving six vessels surviving the impact. The eco-ship is drifting and running on emergency power. Also you need to get to the secondary mainframe.”

  “Alright.” Johnathan replied before pulling himself off the ground.

  He glanced back at the metal spike in the hangar bar. It was entrancing to see an alien vessel wedged into the floor of the hangar bay. As Johnathan started to turn away there was a loud metallic screeching noise that emanated from the metallic spike. He stopped walking and turned back to look at it. The top two meters of the spike began to divide and then fold open leaving a large one meter opening at the top of the spike. Johnathan found himself utterly entranced as he watched. He heard Mark’s voice but it was a faded noise in the background as he watched the spike. After a few minutes of staring intently at the opening Johnathan spotted some movement. The creature that came out of the opening stunned him. What appeared to be a massive rodent creature with thick matted brown hair and metallic plates that covered its head, back and thin plates that covered its shoulders. He guessed that it was about one meter tall. The creature’s head was facing towards the left and away from Johnathan while slowly looking across the hangar bar. It was beginning to face towards him so he moved so that he was out of view of the creature. It reached down into the hole and pulled a long metal rod that had an opening on one end and a switch on the other. It held the opening out in front of itself. Johnathan guessed that it was some sort of weapon. It came out of the opening fully and climbed down one of the three parts that had spread open from the spike. Soon another one followed and before long there was about fifty of them. A small group of them headed away from the spike and towards the back of the hangar bay where the few shuttles in the hangar bay were sitting. Johnathan realized that he needed to do something to stop them. More of them began to come out of the opening. He guessed the vessel might have held hundreds or maybe thousands more of the creatures. His mind began to race as he tried to think of what to do.

  Mark’s voice softly said behind him, “Johnathan we need to get out of here.”

 
He knew that Mark was right but he was as much responsible for protecting the crew as Rose or the First Officer.

  Turning to Mark Johnathan said in a soft whisper, “Get to the secondary mainframe and lock the doors. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  “This is not wise Johnathan.”

  “I have to do something. Go!”

  Mark’s podium turned away and began wheeling down the hallway. Johnathan faced back through the doorway of the hangar bay. The creatures began to fill the hangar bay along the back walls and down into the shuttles. They were clearly securing the hangar bay. No doubt they would move into the ship once they were ready. As Johnathan looked around he was struck with an idea. Along the right wall of the hangar bay was the door controls for the hangar. He could sneak there and open the bay doors to send all of the creatures out into the void of space. It might be suicidal but taking out one of their vessels could save lives. Johnathan glanced down at his dolly and saw the cable that he attached his space suit onto the eco-ship. Maybe he could tie himself to the control base as the hangar bay doors opened to stay in the bay. Once the creatures were blown out he could close the bay doors. Firming his jaw Johnathan grabbed the cable and began crouching as he slipped through the door. He snuck behind the crates near the back wall while weaving his way towards the controls. He could hear the creatures speaking in a completely indecipherable language that seemed to consist of a combination of grunts and squeaks. Johnathan continued to creep towards the controls. He was quite lucky that the creatures chose to start occupying the hangar bay from the left side. He was now close enough that he would have to stand in clear view of the creatures to open the bay doors. His whole body was wracked with nervousness. He was not even this nervous when he went on his first date with Rose. Clenching his teeth he forced down his nerves and gripped the cable in his hand firmly.

  “Here goes nothing.” He whispered to himself.

  He then ran as fast he could to the panel. He made it pretty quickly and while he began playing with the controls he heard the creatures suddenly make noise as they no doubt noticed him. Glancing up he saw the creatures beginning to move towards him as they raised up their weapons. Johnathan finishing the commands and activated the controls to make the hangar bay doors open. The doors responded immediately with a violent grinding noise. The metal of the spike jammed into the hangar bay doors screeched loudly as the doors began to open. Johnathan tapped the door controls to close and secure the entry doors shut so that none of the creatures could escape. Hurriedly he wrapped the cable in his hand around the base of the controls and secured it with a latch before slipping it around his shoulder and waist. He secured the cable and tightly held on as it was not fully tightened around his waist. The doors finally opened enough to allow the vacuum of space to begin to pull into the hangar bays. The creatures who were initially approaching him must have realized what was happening because they began to scurry towards the opening of the metal spike. It was too late for them as the bay doors continued to open. The spike fell away from the eco-ship and Johnathan could see bodies of the creatures being pulled out through it. The vacuum began to pull him as well. He tried to hold his position but the vacuum roughly pull him towards the opening. Johnathan had not turned off the air supply to the hangar bay but the air was getting thin and he was having a hard time breathing, especially with the cable roughly squeezing his waist and chest. He was pulled off his feet as the doors finally opened fully. Johnathan glanced backwards towards the open bay doors and could not see any more of the creatures still in the hangar bay. He turned around and began pulling himself towards the control panel. Once he was close enough he reached open to the panel and forced himself up. His muscles were calling out in pain from the effort. As he was able to get halfway up he reached out to the panel and slapped his hand on the controls trying to close the bay doors. It took him a few tries but he finally activated button to make them close. They responded immediately and began to close. Johnathan fell back down and the vacuum began pulling on him however as the doors closed the pressure slightly lessened. He forced himself back up and once he got back to the panel he activated the emergency energy shields that would block off the hangar bay in case of emergencies. The vacuum immediately stopped and Johnathan collapsed to his knees. He was utterly exhausted. Pride shot through him once he recovered enough to stand back up. He had succeeded in eliminating a whole vessel of those creatures. Reaching out to the panel he activated the entryway doors and began walking towards it. As he approached the doors he heard a rustling noise back from near the shuttles. Glancing over Johnathan spotted three of the creatures in the hangar bay. They were looking right at him. Only one of them still had its weapon and it was aiming it directly at Johnathan.