I could tell that Gonzales was struggling not to roll her eyes. “I suppose that’s true. Is everyone ready for what is most of our first off-world mission?”
“I am.”
“Guess so.”
I nodded toward what seemed to be our de facto leader. “Let’s do this.”
“Let’s.”
She hit the button to release the airlock, and the door slowly began to open. According to our readings, the atmosphere was similar enough not to mean sudden death if there was a puncture in our enviro-suits, but there was enough of a difference to lead to nausea, shortness of breath, and other uncomfortable complications—something we wanted to avoid if at all possible.
The door finished rising and the ramp started to extend. With another look at each other, we ventured into the outside world.
The Great Unknown
It was bright. So very bright.
I squinted against the harsh sun as we walked down the ramp, my eyes struggling to adjust to the blinding rays.
“Geez, why don’t these enviro-suits have sunglasses?”
I reached over and pressed one of the buttons on Bahn’s chest. Almost immediately, his helmet began to darken with a UV filtering tint.
“Whoa, we can do that?”
“Only you and Bahn. Ciangi and I have slightly older models.”
“Bummer,” the blonde remarked before looking to Mimic. “Are you sure you don’t need one?”
“I am fine, I assure you.”
“Alright, good. If you say so, I guess. You did live on an asteroid with no atmosphere for…how long have you been alive?”
Mimic shrugged. “That is unknown. My kind does not keep track of time in the same way you do.”
“As in your kind doesn’t keep track of time at all?”
“Yes.”
I turned away to glance out at the landscape. It certainly was breathtaking, with over-saturated blues, pinks, and yellows surrounding us. “Where did our sensors say they wanted us to go?”
Gonzales consulted her data-log before pointing to a narrow grove between thin, twisting trees. “That way.”
We headed in that direction, taking on the standard formation I had been taught in my orientation when I was brought onboard my first government vessel. I was surprised that the engineers hadn’t had the same basic training, but I guess whoever had set orientation up had decided it wouldn’t be necessary to their jobs.
An oversight, in my opinion. But what did I know? I was just a janitor who had managed to find alien lifeform and then commit high treason.
“Does anyone else find it eerily quiet around here?”
“That usually means one of two things,” I murmured quietly. “Either there is no flora roaming around here, or—”
“Or what?”
“Or we’re in a predator’s territory and all the prey animals know not to go near it.”
“Right. Well, let’s hope it’s number one then.”
“It’s never number one,” Bahn whispered. “Be on your guard.”
And so, we crept forward, coming ever closer to the coordinates on Gonzales’s array. My senses were all on high alert, my eyes scanning the foliage around me in sweeping arcs.
I wished I had time to appreciate the beauty of it all, but I couldn’t risk being caught unaware. I needed to focus, to make sure that nothing got the drop on us. To—
“We’re here.”
“What?”
I looked to Gonzales, who was standing in the middle of the clearing we had reached. “We’re here. These are the coordinates.”
“Then what are we looking for?”
“I don’t know. It wasn’t like the sensors came with a sketch of the exact materials we were looking for. Just that they were here.”
“I guess we’ll have to use our handheld to scan everything one by one until we find what plant or rock we need.”
“Fantastic. That sounds like a great use of our time.” She sighed and pulled out one of the scanners Bahn had fabricated for us. “But it’s not like I have a better idea, so hold on. And watch out for carnivorous plants. I’m still not settled about this whole silent thing. Mimic, you still focus on trying to find yourself something to eat.”
“Will do, human friend.”
“It’s Gonzales.”
“I doubt I will remember that, but thank you.”
I swallowed a snort of laughter and went about scanning the nearest plants. There were violently purple flowers with orange speckles along the hand-sized petals, the twisting, winding roots of the trees towering above us. Rocks that were a sparkling blue or a light, shimmering gray.
We spent what felt like ages quietly roaming around the clearing, scanning one by one by one. It was tedious, it hurt my lower back, and I couldn’t help but feel that there was danger just lurking over my shoulder.
“I think I might have found it!”
We all stood and looked to Bahn, who was standing over a fuchsia plant with strange looking pods dotting it. Almost like one mind, we rushed over to his side and read the output of his scanner.
“That looks like it to me,” Gonzales said with a smile. “Let’s all take a sample just to make sure.”
We did, and after a few minutes, telltale beeps sounded from our devices.
“This is it! Everyone load up as much as you can into your enviro-packs, and then we’ll get this to quarantine to make sure it’s safe. Any luck on your end, Mimic?”
My shifter friend held up a singular pebble no bigger than an ancient earth quarter. “This has a few trace elements of the compounds I need. It is better than nothing.”
“Here,” I said, extending my hand to her. “I’ll make sure it gets into the enviro-pack for you.”
“Thank you, that is much appreciated.”
We shared a smile then I tucked it away. We couldn’t risk it getting lost. Even if it was the equivalent of a single bite of food, I couldn’t stand the thought of her losing it.
“Alright, let’s get out of here before our luck runs out.”
“Hear, hear,” I agreed, turning back toward the direction we came from.
We got a total of about six steps before I heard a low, ominous growling.
“Did anybody else—”
“Yes,” Ciangi whispered tersely as we froze in place. “We all heard it.”
“So, what’s the plan here? Make a break for it, walk calmly and hope it leaves us alone, or fight it with our blasters?”
“Considering only two of us have blasters, I don’t think that’s the best idea.”
Surprisingly, it was Mimi’s calm voice that answered.
“The four of you will make a break towards the ship. I will follow close behind.”
“What, are you serious—”
“Now!”
Her harsh order jolted us into action and we raced forward.
It was difficult to run in an enviro-suit, the thick material making undue friction between my thighs and under my arms. But none of us were letting that stop us, and we raced as hard as we could toward the ship.
That ominous growl turned into an outright roar, and I heard something erupt from the trees behind us. Despite knowing better, I glanced over my shoulder to see what was chasing us, and immediately wished I hadn’t.
It was a creature, alright. One with a strange mix of fur and gelatinous-looking skin. It had six legs that it ran on, catching up to us way too quickly for any of us to get away, and spiked tentacles whipping around on its back. When it opened its mouth to roar again, I saw several rows of sharp, jagged teeth that looked like they still had bits of flesh tucked between their serrated edges.
I kept running, but I felt utterly mesmerized by the sight of it as it crouched, then sprang forward. It sailed through the air toward us, its shadow sweeping across our running figures, and that was when I knew this was the end for us.
But before it could land on us and eviscerate our comparatively tiny bodies, something slammed into its side.
As much as I wanted to look at the strange beast that had saved our life, we couldn’t stop running.
“Was that…Mimic?” Bahn asked breathlessly as we raced towards the ship.
“I think so?” I answered. “Otherwise, the timing is awfully convenient.”
“Well, remind me to thank her if she gets back on the ship.”
“When,” I said firmly. “When she gets back on the ship.”
“Right, right. Of course, that’s what I meant.”
I probably would have argued further, but the ramp we had descended came into view, sunlight glinting off the metal surface. I risked another glance behind to see the great monsters still going at it, snarling and slashing and biting.
I could only make out flashes of whatever Mimic was. She had oily-green skin that glimmered rainbow when the light hit it just right. Instead of front arms, or legs, her front limbs just had scythe-like claws.
All in all, it was a pretty terrifying spectacle and I could only hope that we all survived it.
We reached the ramp and everyone sprinted up it, racing to get to their seats in the cabin and start up the ship. I, however, stopped at the top of the slope and looked back.
“Mimi!” I called.
I wasn’t sure what I expected. I just wanted her to know that we were safe and she needn’t risk her life anymore. I didn’t even know if she would hear me over the clamor of the battle she was embroiled in.
The oily monster’s head craned towards me, and its two scythe-appendages slammed into the front of the furred creature, sending it flying backward. Turning tail, she ran toward me, form shrinking and morphing as she went.
I felt the rumble of the engines come to life below me, but it wasn’t enough to distract me from the bizarre and horrifying transformation of the beast to Mimic’s much more human form.
Its arms went first, shrinking from deadly weapons into pale, borderline scrawny limbs. Then the head shrunk, growing hair as it went.
By the time she reached me, she was almost human. Her skin was still largely the wrong color, and she had four eyes instead of two, but it was enough for me.
“She’s safe!” I cried, pulling her in and slamming the console that retracted the ramp and closed the hatch. “Punch the engines!”
“Gotcha. I’d recommend holding onto something.”
I didn’t take the warning lightly and hauled Mimic back toward our seats. I had just about enough time to strap her in before the first engine kick rattled us and I felt my balance quickly shifting.
There was no way I would have time to get to my own seat in time. My eyes flitted around, trying to find some sort of solution. But instead of straps, or seats, or buckles, I felt several tentacles wrap around me.
My first response was to jerk away in fear, but I felt Mimic rest her head against my chest.
“I have you, friend. Do not worry.”
I wanted to tell her that even if she did suddenly have twelve arms, it probably wasn’t going to be enough to hold onto me during an atmospheric exit, but there didn’t seem to be much of a point. So instead, I wrapped my arms around her too and held on for dear life.
The ship bucked and kicked as we skipped across the forest floor, trying to gain momentum. While I was no engineer, I knew enough about ships to know that general transport vessels were not meant for atmospheric entry and escape in a short period. And yet that was exactly what we were doing.
It was déjà vu all over again as my head fought to whip this way and that. I tucked my chin down to my chest and tried to focus on not biting my cheeks or tongue into oblivion. I had never been one for the taste of blood and I certainly wasn’t going to start enjoying it now.
“Gonzales, are you trying to take us on a tour of the landscape or are we going to actually get altitude at some point?” Ciangi asked, stress apparent in her voice.
“Do you wanna drive this thing?” she snapped. “Because I assure you, it is not as easy as it looks!”
Ciangi opened her mouth like she had a reply, but then suddenly we were jettisoning over the side of a cliff and all that made it out was a shaky scream.
Our nose began to tip forward and for a split-second, I was sure we were about to fall to our deaths. But then, something shifted, and all the air below us seemed to balance out the ship. Then, against all odds, we were ascending. In a wide angle at first, then slowing becoming more and more steeply until we were practically vertical.
Atmospheric exit in ten seconds.
I assumed this was normally when Gonzales would have some sort of snarky quip for the computer, but the gravitational force of it all was keeping all our jaws locked tight.
More rattling, more shaking, and yet Mimic held onto me tightly. My back popped several times, and my feet lifted from the ground, but she never wavered for a second.
And then, out of nowhere, we settled and my teeth stopped vibrating out of my skull. I blinked blearily, and Mimic slowly disentangled herself from me, panting slightly.
“That was difficult,” she murmured breathlessly.
“I bet. But thank you.”
“Any time,” she said, shooting me a weak smile. “But now I am very hungry.”
“Sorry about that.” I felt guilty. How much energy had she expended in saving our sorry hides?
“Wow,” Gonzales said, unbuckling herself and slowly getting to her feet before discarding her enviro-suit. “I’m beginning to think that I might be pretty amazing.”
“You know what?” Ciangi said, following her example. “I’m inclined to agree.”
The dark-skinned woman gave the blonde a wink before getting right back to business.
“Alright, you twins go work on the wormhole jumper while Higgens and I are going to try to set up a workspace for you.”
“Me?” I asked, suddenly paying acute attention to the conversation.
“You see anyone else around here who can be an ionic-wrench monkey?”
“Well, no, but—”
“Then come on, buddy boy. I’ve got the autopilot set for our next location and we don’t have a second to waste.”
She threw an arm around me and led me out. I took one last glance over my shoulder at Mimic, but she just waved weakly from her chair. She was trusting all of us to save her life, and that quelled whatever trepidation was in my middle.
After all, we had one material down, but there were three more to go.
Old Dog, New Tricks
“Pass me the spectral reader.”
I looked at the vast array of tools in front of me then identified the right one and handed it to Gonzales from where she was under one of the medbay consoles.
A day had passed since we had scrambled onto the ship in our frantic escape, and the coin twins were still busy fabricating the contraption we needed to jump through the wormhole again. Meanwhile, Gonzales and myself bounced between setting up other equipment for them or repairing damages to the engines and crystal modules as Bahn pointed them out.
At first, I had thought I would be completely useless, merely a mobile shelf for the brain-trust, but Gonzales seemed determined to have me be useful. We had spent the first hour with her simply explaining the name of tools and then quizzing me on them. From then, whenever she asked me to hand her one, she would either explain its purpose and why she was using it or ask me what it was used for if it was something she had already explained to me.
I was aware I was being educated, but it seemed natural and purposeful, which suited my mind just right. I knew she used the ionic welder to seal tears within any sort of metal component. The silicon injector was used for covering gaps in wiring or fixing tears in protective casing and buttons. The ionic wrench was used to magnetically remove sealed bolts or other fasteners with a chromium component. The list went on and on and on.
It reminded me of all the training I had to do when I was first int
erested in facilities. I had enjoyed it then, and it was all coming back to me.
Maybe I wasn’t as dense as I had been led to believe.
Perhaps that was a little audacious to think after just under twenty-four hours of assisting the obviously gifted Gonzales, but she never spoke to me as if I was an idiot or wasting her time. It made me feel good. Less like a useless janitor being hounded by someone over the comm at all hours.
“Thanks. Next, I’ll take the—”
Attention: Orbit at destination will be reached in one hour.
“Looks like that’s our cue,” she said, sliding out from underneath and flashing me a bright smile. “You ready for another outing?”
“Not particularly,” I answered honestly, thinking back to that furred monster and shuddering.
“Aw, relax!” she said, clapping my shoulder. “I’m sure this one will go much better. Now let’s hop into our enviro-suits and see what this chunk of the universe has waiting for us!”
It did not go better.
Granted, it didn’t seem to go worse either, but our second outing was definitely just as stressful.
But this time, instead of giant alien monsters looking to make a snack of us, there were tiny little goo monsters that dissolved inorganic things on contact. We found that out because one landed on Bahn’s scanner and it quickly melted in his grasp.
From that point, there had been more running, more screaming, and frantically scanning the area for the minerals we needed followed by a mad dash back to the ship. Mimic handled herself beautifully considering we found nothing for her to eat, but I was beginning to worry about her. Her once adorably full, pixie-like face was growing gaunt, and I often caught bits of her warping and fading in the corner of my vision.
But she never complained. Not once. Not even when we visited the third planet that happened to be completely covered in something similar to water and we were almost swallowed by a giant beast. Not even when I rolled over at night and saw her reverted to her black form, only considerably smaller and shaking from hunger.
Mimic and the Journey Home (Space Shifter Chronicles Book 2) Page 3