by Nick Braker
Think, man. This can’t be good. You’ve got to save them.
The humanoid alien had stopped at the metal table on the opposite side near the doorway. Weston was on that side, so he could see the creature better. He strained to turn his neck to see Weston’s face. It wasn’t fear in his face. No, it was terror. Weston was about to panic. His eyes darted back to the alien as something in its hand had just lit up. It was small and the tip glowed a bright, pale blue.
The same damn color of our bonds.
The humanoid creature leaned over one of the girls strapped to the table. Something raised her up and it wasn’t the creature. Her head and torso were now a few inches closer to the alien but she was still bound by the energy bonds. The humanoid brought the light down to the back of her skull and she screamed. She had been unconscious but the device woke her up. The alien had cut into her. The scream was horrific. It pierced the room with its intensity, waking the others. Terror gripped him as he realized she was powerless to move. She could only breathe and then scream. That bastard was killing into her. He strained against his bonds even more but still they held. His mind reeled and he couldn’t take it anymore. He had to do something, anything.
Once again, the lights flickered off and then on. The alien didn’t even seem to notice as he continued slicing into her. Her name was Bree, one of the girls Weston had pointed out. She was in complete shock, screaming for her life, and unable to comprehend what was happening to her. She couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it. Tears streamed from Asher’s eyes as he stared in horror through the shadows of the room to make out what was happening to her.
“Bree,” Asher screamed.
With a whisper-like pop, the bonds holding her flickered out and her dead body fell the few inches she had been elevated, back onto the table with a sickening thump. He heard chaos erupt in the room as the others began screaming. None of them could move and they all panicked. He strained violently against the bonds, muscles heaving and flexing with every single ounce of strength he possessed. The lights flickered off and his wrists were free. Asher was so surprised by the freedom of motion, he didn’t understand he could move now. He brought his hands up in front of him. The bonds were gone. He grabbed the edge of the table and prepared to leap at the creature. It was going to die. The lights sprang back to life and so did the bonds that were holding him. His ankles, wrists, and torso snapped back into place on the table. The force of the action slammed his head into it. Dazed, he watched the alien move down to the next table. The fog was back and he couldn’t think straight.
Who is screaming so loudly? What is going on?
A few seconds passed and the fog lifted as his existing adrenaline and anger cleared his mind. The bonds were back but he had a plan. This ship was not in good shape. He didn’t know why and he didn’t even care but it was having power troubles. The next power failure would be his one-way ticket to getting his hands around that alien’s throat. The screaming stopped and the loud thump came again. Fira was dead. The alien had already moved on to the next in line and had cut into her. That was the scream he heard when dazed. The alien was closer now and he could see the creature’s pale skin. He couldn’t explain it but the alien was strikingly similar to a male human, but was not human. It had flawless features and unblemished, colorless skin.
“Over here, you bastard. Over here,” he screamed at it.
Whatever it was, it couldn’t hear or it simply ignored him. The being moved on to the next table, Rose’s table. She was alert and knew what was about to happen to her. She too started rising up over the table, the blue bonds lifting her into position for the alien. Asher stared at the lights, willing them to fail.
“Please go out. Please, go out,” he hissed.
Rose screamed in agony. The blade had cut into her. The alien extracted something from the base of her skull. She breathed and screamed, breathed and screamed. Asher forced himself to look. He had to be ready. He would kill it. Kill it and beat it to a pulp. The lights flickered off again. Asher reacted instantly and strained against his bonds but just as quickly they flickered back on. The blue energy bonds held. He cursed and then cursed some more at the creature. It moved to the next table... Weston’s table. Weston didn’t take his eyes off the creature as it approached but just like the others the blue bonds started to raise him off the table, forcing his head down, exposing the back of his neck. The blue energy held him in place. Weston breathed in and screamed as he strained against the force holding him. The alien brought the knife down and started his cut. The lights went out.
Asher leaped at the alien but overshot his mark. He slammed into the far wall near the ceiling. He slid down toward Rose’s dead body but his descent was too slow. He turned his head to look for the alien. It was on the ground and Weston was all over him. The alien tried to fight back but Weston flailed at him, pounding the creature into the floor. The blue glowing knife went flying across the room and Weston dove for it. The alien dove, as well. Weston overshot the knife but scooped it up from behind him just as he hit the lower ledge that supported the table tops on the far side. They had not been strapped to tables as he thought instead they were raised ledges separated out by dividers that gave the appearance of a table from the topside. Asher made note of it because Weston had hit that lower ledge pretty hard. The alien scrambled for Weston and grabbed the arm holding the blade. The lights were still out and the room glowed eerily from the small blue light. Asher finally landed. He lunged for the alien but the blood on the table caused him to slip and he landed on Rose. He fought to maintain his balance and lost. He pushed off with his hands on the ledge to propel himself toward the alien. He landed on the creature just as Weston plunged the blade into its neck. Asher grabbed the creature by the head and twisted. He felt the alien creature’s neck snap and its body go limp. He didn’t stop. Asher smashed his fist over and over into the creature’s face.
Brandon pulled him off of the alien.
“Dude, there may be more. You gotta get a grip,” Brandon said.
The shadows from the blade in Weston’s hand danced over Brandon’s face as Weston got up. The blade’s light also confirmed the creature looked humanoid. Brandon was right, there were more here and they had to deal with them. He let his rage die, forcing himself to calm down.
Asher stopped at the door the alien had used to enter the room. It was closed. Keeping his back to the wall just to the right of the door, he faced the rest of them, whispering as loudly as he dared.
“Listen up. I see Jules, Mira, Zara, Seph, Brandon, Weston and Greg. Is anyone else here?”
He waited longer than he wanted as he hoped others had made it too. The silence wore down on them the longer no one else responded.
“Check the bodies, Greg. See if anyone is still alive,” he ordered.
“Got it. Weston, I need that blade.”
“Sure, dude. Here.”
Weston handed the blade to Greg carefully.
“Holy shit,” Greg said, as if he just discovered something.
“Wha’? What the hell is it?” Brandon said, almost screaming but cut himself off quickly.
“I think we are falling or something. I can’t explain it but I feel like we’re in an amusement ride and we’re on the down swing,” he whispered.
Asher pictured the fight scene again and remembered that it took an unusual amount of time for him to fall after he overshot the alien. Both actions were strange. Nothing seemed to work like it should. It was as if gravity was wrong... and then it dawned on him.
“Dudes, we must be in space. Gravity is less which means we’re still near Earth or maybe we’re on the moon right now. I don’t think it matters because, like Brandon said, there may be more of those aliens on this ship.”
Greg finished his search.
“Agreed,” Greg said. “Unfortunately, we are the only ones alive. That’s the good news.”
“This is no time for humor, dude,” Weston said.
“I’m not joking around. That is
the good news. The bad news is the blade must be losing power because--” Greg said, as the blade’s light flickered and went out. “--it’s starting to fade out, shit.”
Asher whispered into the darkness.
“Everyone to me. Huddle near my voice.”
He took a moment to let everyone feel their way closer and when it sounded like they had all moved as much as they could to him, he continued.
“Look, we are all getting out of this alive. No one panic. We stay together. Brandon, Weston, take the rear. I want the order from there to be Zara, Seph, Greg, Mira, Jules and then me. I’ll take the lead. Everyone hold on to the person in front of you.”
The group moved around a bit more, getting into positions. The darkness was complete. He couldn’t even see his hand inches from his face.
“Asher,” Seph said. “If this ship has lost power then it is possible we are falling. I would estimate given the force we are experiencing that we have reached terminal velocity. If so, we have a few seconds to roughly several minutes depending on altitude--”
Asher cut her off.
“So, we have aliens to kill and a ship to save from smashing into the ground?”
“Wait, Seph, you might be right but should we not be feeling the effects of the acceleration? I can see the initial gravity-like effect that falling would give us but not for this long and not with the obvious gravity constant we are currently experiencing,” Jules said.
“You are correct, Jules,” Seph answered. “Since gravity has not changed for the last several minutes, we can safely agree that this ship is generating a gravity field or--”
“Or?” Asher asked.
“Or we are on another planet or object large enough to produce a natural gravity well,” Mira finished.
“Meaning, we could already be on an alien planet?” asked Greg.
“Precisely,” Jules said.
“Son of a--” Brandon exclaimed quietly.
They were all in their swimsuits and everyone was cold. Jules’ hands felt like ice on Asher’s sides where she held him. She was shaking too.
“We’re going to be okay, Jules,” he whispered to her.
“I trust you, Asher,” she said, leaning closer.
She couldn’t see him in the dark but he smiled at her anyway. Asher put his hands on the door and slid them along it. He found the edge where it met the doorway.
“When we stop, huddle up as close as you can. We need to conserve heat. It doesn’t feel dangerously cold right now but it could be worse outside this door.”
He forced his fingertips into the edge of the door and slid it open.
“I’ve got the door open,” he whispered. “Let’s move and keep it quiet. I want everyone listening.”
The group moved forward while crouched down in the low gravity. It was awkward at first moving in gravity this light but their crouched movements were made easier in contrast. Asher kept his hands on the doorway, moved through it and turned to follow the wall, keeping it to his left. Still in a crouch, he slid his hand along the wall as they moved. The metal was cold to the touch and his left hand ached as he slid it across the wall. The metallic floor leeched the heat from his feet causing him to shiver. In contrast, Jules’ warm breath was on his back as she held him close from behind.
“Ask them to be quieter,” he whispered. “Pass the message back.”
He continued along the wall with his hands. The group progressively got quieter as the word was spread and Asher started to relax a bit. As he moved, he found several points where he had to go slightly around what appeared to be a support beam or bulkhead. He passed several that were evenly spaced along the hallway. Jules pulled him to a stop. She leaned in to whisper in his ear.
“We are moving in a circle and we are on the outside wall of a hallway within this ship. We are just short of a quarter of the way around.”
He started to ask her how she knew that but she was right. He didn’t reply and instead started moving forward again. A few feet further and his hand felt the seams of another doorway. He put his ear to the door and listened. He heard nothing from the other side. The door felt similar to the one they had left but, since he didn’t hear anything, he decided to keep moving forward. On the other side of another bulkhead, his hands felt another door. He stopped to listen. A noise in front of him drew his attention. It was easily 80 feet ahead but it was definitely something other than the sounds they had been hearing.
“You hear it too?” Jules said, leaning in to whisper in his ear.
“Yes, just shy of 100 feet,” he said. “I think it’s another alien.”
“Kill the bastard,” Jules said.
Her statement took him back a little. Her comment was cold and filled with anger. He understood her feelings. They had killed her sorority sisters.
“Get Greg up here,” he whispered.
Moments later Greg’s hand was on his right shoulder.
“What we got?” Greg asked quietly.
“Another alien,” Asher replied just as quietly. “Let’s move forward, find it and take it down.”
“Damn straight,” Greg whispered.
Greg was angry. They were all feeling the effects of the brutal murders. Revenge and anger overshadowed any fear.
Asher gave instructions to Jules, telling her to make sure Brandon and Weston knew what they were planning and to stand guard while they were gone. Asher and Greg crouched forward, still moving along the outer wall on their left. Asher saw it first as Greg was to his right and hadn’t gotten far enough around the curve of the hallway to see. He tugged Greg forward and pointed to the being on the ground. It appeared to be working on something in the wall panel. Its upper torso was well inside the panel giving them an easy path to approach undetected. The creature was on its abdomen and had a light source shining inward toward the panel area. It gave off enough light that both Asher and Greg could see each other now. He nodded at Greg and motioned for him to take the far side of the alien. They moved quietly in the low gravity along the hard metallic floor. Their bare feet ached from the cold and it hampered movement. Asher stood near the creature’s left side, giving Greg a little more time to maneuver around to its right. They got within ten feet of each side of it along the outer wall. Blue light danced around the hallway and Asher was reminded of the electric knife from the other alien. This one must have something similar and that meant he was very dangerous. Asher motioned with his hand, letting Greg know about the device. Greg nodded and held up a thin, nearly foot long metal rod he must have found on the floor. One of the alien’s tools? Greg motioned with it in a downward stabbing movement and Asher nodded back. The creature couldn’t see them which gave both of them time to prepare. They took three careful steps toward the creature. Greg took a deep breath as Asher gave the signal to go.
Asher slammed his full weight on the creature’s hind legs above its knees. Even with the lighter gravity his weight pinned it and Greg stabbed it from behind as fast as his hands would move. He plunged the rod in its back over and over. The creature’s blood sprayed outward from its body hitting both of them with its sticky black liquid. Greg was so intent on attacking, he didn’t see the blue light on the tip of the device stab backward toward him. Asher did and knocked Greg back as the blue light arced along the space Greg had just occupied. Greg caught his balance from Asher’s push and started toward the creature again, this time with more caution. Asher still had it pinned and it was not getting up. The creature slashed backwards at him but its arms weren’t flexible enough. Greg pitched the rod to Asher. He caught it and pointed to the creature’s feet.
“Pull the thing out and twist it over,” he hissed.
Greg moved into position, grabbed the creature by its ankles with his arms crossed in front of him and pulled hard, uncrossing them as he did. Asher jumped away and watched the creature get yanked out, lifted a few feet in the air and spun in midair by Greg. As soon as its front side was exposed, he plunged the rod deep in its chest which slammed the creatu
re into the floor. They both reveled in the sound of broken bones the force had caused. It stopped moving. The device in its hand flickered off but the other light source in the wall panel remained lit. Asher pulled the rod out and plunged it in again. He wanted to make sure it was dead. He stared into the creature’s face as he stuck the rod into its body several more time. Its eyes were open but they didn’t move. Greg moved next to the alien’s right side and stepped on its hand, grabbing the device in the process.
“Hell yeah,” Greg tried to whisper but it came out louder than he intended.
Asher glared at him.
“Sorry,” Greg mouthed.
They were covered in the creature’s blood. The smell was strong and metallic in nature, but Asher couldn’t pinpoint it.
“It didn’t scream.”
“What?” Greg asked.
“It didn’t scream, dude. No sound at all. We stabbed it and it didn’t scream.”
Greg pointed to the creature’s mouth.
“It has a mouth. Look,” he said.
“Fortunate for us, it didn’t or couldn’t,” Asher said.
Asher examined the area. They couldn’t leave the body lying around. If there were any other aliens onboard, they might stumble upon it.
“Let’s get this thing out of sight. I’ll drag it back and we’ll throw it in with the first alien,” he whispered. “Grab the light. We’re heading back to the group.”
Greg retrieved the light source from the wall panel. It was similar to a lantern but it projected most of its light forward in a 90 degree arc. It was blue but slightly whiter and brighter than the light the handheld devices produced.
“Is it something about blue these aliens see better in or is it just the power source they use generates blue light?”