by Jake Bible
My back is against the ship and I feel it shudder as a loader rams into it.
“Whatever you are doing you need to do it faster,” I say.
My right leg jerks and tries to kick Bessie away, but she dodges it and keeps working. A bolt of pain shoots up my left leg and I scream, grabbing handfuls of Bessie’s uniform as I double over.
“Try moving it now,” Bessie says.
I look at her like she’s crazy, but I am able to move my left leg again. The right? Not so much. It’s kinda gone nuts and Bessie has to pay attention in order to not get kicked.
“That one isn’t going to play nice,” she says. “So we’ll have to do this the hard way.”
She watches the leg, timing the attacks, then lunges and grabs it with both of her hands, putting her whole weight on it. The leg tries to buck her off, but she won’t let it as she rips open that part of my uniform and smacks my knee. A second panel slides open and she jams three fingers inside.
The pain is horrible. I cry out and thrash, praying it will stop, please stop. Please!
Then it’s gone and Bessie is wiping the tears from my cheeks.
“You okay?” she asks.
The ship shudders again and I know the loaders are almost around and to us.
“No,” I say. “I’m not okay. That really hurt.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” she says. “But you have control of your legs again.”
She’s right, now both legs obey.
“Help me up,” I say and she stands and pulls me to my feet.
I’m a little shaky, but I can put one foot in front of the other.
“What now?” I ask, looking about the bay. “Try the other doors?”
“No time,” she says then looks at the spaceship. “We need to hide.”
“We what?” I ask. “Hide? How? Where?”
“In there,” she says. “We hide in there.”
“The alien spaceship? You want to hide in an alien spaceship?”
“Presumed to be alien,” she shrugs then nods at the loaders that are almost to us. “Now or never.”
“Now or…? Ugh! Okay!”
She pulls me up onto the spaceship and the same voice as before rings out.
“Hello again, Systems Chief Bessandra Sacher. And hello to you, Captain Isla McNeal.”
“Yeah, hi,” I say.
“Listen, ship, or whatever you are,” Bessie says. “Uh, we kinda need you to open up so we can hide inside.”
“It would be my pleasure, Bessandra,” the ship replies. “If you will climb forward and proceed to the top hatch, I can easily accommodate both of you.”
We scramble up farther and a hatch does open for us. I hesitate, but Bessie grabs my arm and pulls me to the hatch. She climbs down inside and I’m about to follow, but something gets in my way.
A very large loader claw.
The claw slams down onto the ship and I tumble backwards, nearly falling all the way off. Not that it’s a far drop, only a couple of feet, but I’d rather be up in the hatch than on the bay floor.
My foot is caught and I’m hanging upside down as I watch the loader bots come for me, claws raised. I struggle to get myself upright, but I just don’t have the strength. Note to self: do more sit-ups.
“Here!” Bessie yells. “Take my hand!”
I feel her hand slap my leg and I reach for her, my fingers only an inch from hers.
“Oh, come on, McNeal!” she shouts. “That the best you got?”
I strain and lunge, my finger tips wrapping in hers. She pulls and I’m glad her fingers are cybernetic because they keep mine from slipping free. I’m yanked up to her and she helps me grab onto the ship and right myself.
Another claw slams down, nearly shaking us both loose, but Bessie keeps her grip on me and the ship with those hands of hers.
“Move,” she says, shoving me to the hatch.
I don’t climb in so much as I tumble in. Ow. I scramble out of the way as Bessie hurries inside. The hatch closes automatically behind her, and we find ourselves hunched over in a very cramped space obviously meant for one person.
“Look out,” she says and takes the only seat in the ship. “I need to see what this thing can do.”
“I can perform many functions, Chief Sacher,” the ship says. “What specifically would you like to accomplish?”
“I’d like to blast those loaders to bits,” Bessie says. “That’s what I would like to accomplish.”
“Oh, well that I cannot do,” the ship says. “I am not equipped with a weapons system.”
“Great,” Bessie sighs. Claws start to hammer at the ship. “So we’re trapped in here?”
“I did not say that,” the ship replies. “If the goal is to incapacitate the loaders then that can be achieved.”
I listen to the ship’s voice and something sounds familiar.
“Pilot?” I ask. “Is that you?”
“No, Captain McNeal,” the ship replies. “I am Ship, not Pilot.”
“Okay, but you kinda sound like Pilot,” I say.
“Do I?” Ship responds. “It may be due to our vocal processors. The one I am equipped with is similar to Pilot’s.”
“Not alien,” Bessie says, her hands running across the control panels in front of her. “Definitely human.” She looks over her shoulder at me. “Just like the Scorpio.”
“Is that right, Ship?” I ask.
“That is a conversation for another time, Captain,” Ship replies. “Right now I need to instruct Chief Sacher on how to stop the loaders that are attacking my hull. While I do not feel pain, I can be damaged. That would not be good for any of us.”
“What do I do?” Bessie asks.
The ship starts to shake and I brace myself as we move slightly.
“Oh, my, that is unfortunate,” Ship says. “I am being loaded.”
“If they can’t beat us, load us,” I smile.
Bessie groans at my bad joke. “Tell me what to do, Ship.”
“The third panel from the right, just under the main control console,” Ship says. “Please remove the panel. Once you have it removed then place your first finger and third finger into the eighth and thirty-second ports.”
“Thirty-second?” I ask. “How many ports are there?”
“I have over ninety-seven ports, Captain McNeal,” Ship says.
“So…ninety-eight then?”
There is a pause. “Yes. Ninety-eight.
“You’re annoying Ship,” Bessie says to me. “Stop it.”
“Sorry,” I say. “Sorry, Ship.”
“No apologies necessary, Captain McNeal,” Ship says. “Do you have the ports engaged, Chief Sacher?”
“My fingers won’t reach,” Bessie says. “The thirty-second port is too far away from the eighth for my third finger to engage.”
“Hmmmm,” Ship says. “Then please place the third finger of your other hand in the thirty-second port while placing the first finger of that same hand in the thirty-first.”
“Done,” Bessie says. “Now what?”
“Close your eyes, please.”
“What?” I ask.
“Do it,” Bessie says. “If an AI tells you to close your eyes then you close your eyes.”
“Hmmmm,” Ship says.
“Something wrong?” I ask.
“No, Captain McNeal,” Ship says. “Are your eyes closed?”
I squeeze mine shut. “Yes.”
“Yes,” Bessie says.
I can feel a quick wave of heat then a pulse like a static shock. A bright flash lights up my eyelids and I cover my face with my hands. Glad my eyes weren’t open for that.
There are several loud crashes and then the ship slams to the floor of the bay. I stumble, but catch myself before I can smack my head on the low ceiling of the ship’s cockpit. The hatch above opens back up and I look over at Bessie.
“Are we good, Ship?” Bessie asks.
“You are good, Chief Sacher,” Ship replies. “You may exit immediatel
y so you can proceed with your rescue mission.”
“Rescue mission?” I ask. “How do you know what we are doing?”
“I know what you are doing and also where you are going,” Ship replies.
“You do?” I ask as I climb up out of the ship. “Where is that?”
“The Cybernetics Development Laboratory,” Ship responds. “Where else would you be going?”
“Is that where Felix is?” I ask.
“No, Captain McNeal, but that is where you need to go next,” Ship responds as I scramble down off of it, glad my feet and legs are mine again as I land on the bay floor.
“Why there?” Bessie asks. “And what is it?”
“That is something you have to find out for yourselves,” Ship says as Bessie jumps down also. “But when you get there—” Ship’s voice cuts off.
“Ship?” I ask. “Ship? Where’d you go?”
Bessie leans forward and places her hand on the ship’s hull.
“…you will need to be careful. Things are not as they seem,” Ship continues.
“There has to be contact,” Bessie says. “Interesting.”
I look about us and see the still loaders.
“What did you do to them?” I ask.
“I did nothing,” Ship replies. “I helped you facilitate the activation of a localized EMP.”
“Electromagnetic pulse,” Bessie says.
“I know what an EMP is,” I say and look down at my legs then at Bessie’s hands. “How’d it not affect us?”
“The cockpit is shielded,” Ship says. “And my systems are not affected by EMPs.”
Bessie frowns at this. “That’s not possible.”
“Alien,” I grin. “You stuck your fingers in an alien ship.”
“I am not of alien origin or design,” Ship says. “But, again, that is a conversation for another time. You must hurry.”
“Thanks, Ship,” Bessie says and pulls her hand free. The wall door slides open and she smiles at me. “Let’s go.”
“Good idea,” I say and we take off running.
I glance back as we hit the passageway and I swear I see Ship moving, but the door slides closed before I can get a better look.
Bessie flicks on her flashlight and we hurry down the passageway in the direction I think will lead us to the Cybernetics Development Laboratory.
“What’s this lab we’re going to?” Bessie asks.
“Felix and I found it with Landon the last time we were on the run,” I say.
“What’s inside?”
“I don’t know,” I reply. “We didn’t go in.”
“Okay,” Bessie says. “Let’s hope Ship is right.”
“Where did it come from?” I ask. “How does it know us and why is it here on the Scorpio?”
“Another conversation for another time, like it said,” Bessie replies. “Not because I don’t want to talk about it, but because I have no idea.”
“Weird,” I say. “Really weird.”
“No fruit.” She laughs.
We run around a couple more corners before I pull up, grabbing her arm. The room is just down the passageway.
But so is a loader.
“What’s with the loader bots?” I whisper as Bessie and I duck back around the corner. “Why not other bots?”
“Because they are the largest,” Bessie says. “And there’s a lot of them.”
“Or because we can’t harm them,” I offer. “Unless we have help.”
“What does that mean?” Bessie asks.
“I don’t know,” I say, shaking my head. “Just a gut feeling I’m getting.”
Bessie frowns and studies my face then rolls her eyes and peeks back around the corner.
“We have to get it to move,” she says. “How?”
“Lead it away,” I say.
“Great,” Bessie says. “I’ll do it.”
“No, I will,” I say. “I can outrun it easy. You get into the lab and figure out what Ship was talking about.”
“What am I looking for?” she asks.
“Not a clue,” I reply. “I’m guessing you’ll know it when you see it.”
“Great,” she says again. “Ready?”
“Yeah,” I say. “I’ll grab its attention and get it to chase me. As soon as it’s clear, you get into that lab.” I hold out my hand.
“What?” she asks then looks at the one flashlight between us. “Great.”
“You know great means the opposite of how you are using it, right?” I grin.
She slaps the flashlight in my hands. “Here ya go. I’ll learn to see in the dark.”
“What about your hands?” I ask. “Can they light up? They have fiberoptics running through them, right? Maybe you can access that and at least get more than just a glow.”
She thinks about this then looks down at her hands. I watch her concentrate and soon there is a brighter glow than usual coming from them. Not much, but enough.
“Cool,” she says. “I can’t believe you thought of that before me.”
“I am the captain.” I smile. “It’s my job to figure out the hard stuff.”
“Good,” she says. “Now you get to figure out how to get a loader bot to chase you without dying. Have fun with that.”
“Great,” I say.
She gives me a thumbs up as I take a couple of deep breaths then step around the corner.
“Hey!” I shout. “Lumpy! Over here!”
“Lumpy?” Bessie whispers from the corner.
“Shut up.”
The loader whirls about, its claws out and snapping, and doesn’t waste a second as it rolls quickly towards me. Fruit, the things can be fast when they want to!
“Aaaaaaahhh!” I scream as I turn and sprint down the passageway, the flashlight’s beam bobbing up and down as I push my legs to their limits.
I race around a corner and another, trying to keep a map in my head as I make my mad dash escape. The loader isn’t as nimble as I am and I hear it clipping the corners as it races after me. Its claws never stop clacking together and I focus on that sound, trying to gauge how far behind me it is.
Two more corners and I skid to a halt as a bulkhead slams down, blocking my way.
“Fruit,” I gasp, my lungs burning.
I have a stitch in my side and realize I’ve run more today than I have the whole year since I woke up. I really, really need to exercise more. Preferably not because I am fleeing for my life.
The sound of metal tearing gets my attention and I spin around to see the bot right behind me, one of its claws ripping a chunk from the corner. Its other claw snaps and clacks, extending towards me, but I’m still a good few meters out of reach.
I look about, desperate to figure a way out of the jam, but the bot has me blocked in. Unless I want to climb over it, I’m not going anywhere.
Hold on…I may not be able to climb over it, but maybe I can get around it.
I watch its claws, seeing there is a pattern to their movements. They clack and lunge, clack-clack then lunge again. Clack lunge, clack-clack lunge. Over and over.
It’s repeating itself.
Shining the flashlight on the loader then on the wall, I work some quick calculations and hope my legs can do what I need them to do. I will have to time it just right or I’ll end up getting squished by the loader. That would be bad.
“Okay, Lumpy,” I say quietly. “Come and get me.”
The thing must hear me because it speeds up and shoots forward. I rock back and forth from one foot to the other, watching the claws carefully. Here it comes. Clack lunge, clack-clack lunge. Clack lunge. I sprint towards it.
When I’m about two meters away, it does its clack-clack lunge thing and I jump. Not onto the loader, but against the wall. I plant my left foot about midway up and push off. My momentum takes me towards the bot and I plant my other foot directly on one of its claws right when it’s opening back up from a clack. Another push and my left foot hits the wall again and I push; my right hits the sur
face of the loader’s body and I push; left with a wall push, right with a bot body push.
Then I’m past it and leaping to the floor.
I don’t bother looking over my shoulder, I just start running.
Backtracking, I try to remember the turns I took as I ran away. A left here, a right there, two lefts…or was it two rights? Fruit.
I stop and look around, hoping for a landmark, but just like with the rest of the Scorpio I only see grey walls. There’s nothing to tell me where I need to go.
Except…
I shine the flashlight on the floor. It’s smooth.
“Wrong way,” I say as I start jogging back the way I just came.
A couple turns and I find what I’m looking for: track gouges in the floor. The loader bots are meant for the more heavy duty bays, not passageways designed for human feet and hover bots.
I follow the gouges for what seems like forever, but the turns start to look familiar. Only a few more and I’ll be there.
And I’m right, it is only a few more. There. The lab.
“Izzy!” Felix cries out behind me. “Izzy help!”
“Felix!” I shout, spinning around, my flashlight searching the passageway. Nothing. “Felix!”
“I’m here!” he yells. “Help! Come help me!”
“Felix! Where are you?” I shout. I start to move forward, but then look over my shoulder at the lab door and hesitate. “Felix? Listen to my voice! Come to me!”
“I can’t!” he screams. “Help me!”
I take a couple steps forward then stop again. I need to get into the lab and help Bessie figure this all out.
But Felix…
“Izzy!” he screeches. “Help me! He’s hurting me!”
That decides it and I take off running. I turn a corner, but he’s not there.
“Felix! Where are you?”
“This way!”
I take off again, come around another corner, but he’s not there either.
“Felix!”
“Up ahead! Help!”
One more corner and there he is.
But he’s not alone.
I blink a few times, unsure of what I’m seeing. Felix is standing there, but so is Landon and…Enrico?
“What the fruit?” I mumble.
Landon stands there behind Felix and Enrico. He has one arm wrapped around Felix’s head, his hand covering my brother’s mouth. Felix’s cybernetic arm is up and his hand is covering Landon’s mouth while Landon’s other hand grips Enrico’s arm, keeping him from struggling free.