Game On: Alien Space Adventure

by R. E. Rowe

  He took stock of the inside of the pod. When Jayden moved his eyes to the right or left, and up or down, his chair rotated smoothly in that same direction. Holograms activated over the panels.

  A rotating hologram of a light bulb floated near his head. Jayden tried to touch the hologram. Instantly, the hologram popped into smaller holograms hovering over each of the physical controls around him.

  Jayden picked a small light bulb and moved his hand through it. The hologram changed into a video animation showing how to fire a laser. He choose another one. This time an animation played showing how to fire blasters.

  Then a hologram of a man appeared. The man had bushy eyebrows and a bright red beard. His image was the size of a small doll and floated a foot in front of Jayden’s face. Live holograms of G-striker, BBgun, Knifetango, and Zebraguts appeared and hovered on either side of the floating, red-bearded man.

  “Congratulations on completing training school . . .”

  “Hey, wait a minute!” Jayden shouted. “We just got here!”

  The hologram continued talking.

  “Can anyone hear me out there?” Jayden asked the hologram faces of Parker and the rest of their squad.

  Parker began shouting. The rest of their squad joined in, but the red-bearded man ignored them and continued talking. Jayden figured Red Beard was a recording.

  “Time to rock and roll, gentlemen.” The man raised his voice above their combined shouts of disapproval.

  “Now, listen up!”

  They all stopped shouting.

  Red beard continued. “You’ll find the controls easy to use and compatible with most video game devices available on Earth just like we showed you in training. Remember to breathe deeply and work as a team. An automated reference guide is on your left if you need it. It accepts voice commands—”

  “We’re so dead.” BBgun groaned.

  “Remember your training, gentleman,” Red Beard continued. “Thruster buttons and holograms on your right and left . . .”

  What training? Jayden thought.

  Buttons, switches, and two-dozen readouts surrounded him. He tugged on his seatbelts. They didn’t budge.

  “We haven’t had training!” Jayden screamed.

  The recording continued. “Do not pull the red lever over your head. It’s the egress lever and ejects you from the robo pod. If an egress occurs, you’ll be able to breathe on Zeta 109b1, but death or capture from the Atilla is highly probable. Avoid capture at all cost unless you wish to become an Atilla pop-jolly snack. They’ll eat your head off . . . literally.”

  Jayden watched BBgun's hologram crying as he scratched at his jaw until it hurt. Eat, as in chew and swallow?

  “Should your robo pod become incapacitated and unable to function, it will self-destruct after ten seconds .

  . .”

  “Not cool,” Knifetango said.

  “A wide selection of Earth music has been provided for your listening pleasure. For a music and language selection from other planets, dial in the star designator using the third knob on your right. Prepare for battle.

  You will be landing directly on the battlefield . . . Good luck, Space Warriors.”

  “Yeah right, we’ll need more than luck,” Parker muttered.

  “Can you guys hear me?” Jayden asked. “G-striker?”

  Parker’s hologram appeared to look up. “Roger that, Killgeek. I can see you too.”

  “What’s happening?” BBgun asked.

  “It sounds like we’re being sent into a real battle,” Jayden replied.

  The voice of another man blasted from an invisible speaker. This one talked faster. “Listen carefully, gentlemen. The Atilla have overrun a world known as Zeta 109b1, orbiting a star in the Carina Nebula within the Sagittarius-Carina Arm of our Milky Way Galaxy. You’ll be providing cover for our evacuation transports.

  Just don’t blast the inhabitants. You can’t miss their six-foot tall, preying-mantis bodies. Even have two wild-looking antennae. For some reason, them things like to wear bright pink clothing. Don’t ask me why.” The voice let out a loud sigh, and then cleared his throat.

  Saving pink bugs? Jayden thought. That’s the mission?

  “As of one hour ago, the invading Atilla forces have massacred one billion of them pink-dressed crickets.

  The good news is nearly five hundred million Pinkies have escaped. The bad news is five hundred million more remain stuck on their planet.”

  Knifetango’s hologram sighed. “Sounds like we’re going to war.”

  “This is bad,” Zebraguts added, shaking his hologram head.

  “Okay, okay,” Jayden said. “Let’s think . . . start studying your controls. Figure out how the pods work.

  Just like a game, right?”

  “Really? That’s the plan?” BBgun asked.

  “Look, anybody have a better idea?” Jayden yelled back.

  “Killgeek is right. Get busy,” Parker said. “Let’s figure out these tin cans.”

  Jayden scrambled to make sense out of the controls. A few minutes passed.

  “I still don’t get it,” Parker said in a low voice as the briefing continued in the background.

  “What do you mean?” Jayden asked him.

  “What’s the Atilla’s motivation?” Parker asked with beads of sweat shining on his upper lip. “From what they told us, their galaxy is way bigger than ours. The Atilla have trillions of planets. Probably with all the resources they could ever need. It’s totally insane. Why do they need our galaxy? Even our shooter games have a mission.” Parker raised his voice louder. “We always have a mission! The Atilla gotta have one too.”

  Jayden thought Parker’s point was a good one. But at that moment, he knew the bigger problem was finding a way to escape so they could start searching for Nora.

  “I’m getting the hang of these controls,” Zebraguts said, his hands moving over his control panel.

  “Yeah, me too,” Knifetango said.

  The man’s voice started again. “Watch for the large red X. Those are your assigned targets. Do not, repeat, do not, shoot anything pink, or you’ll be painted with a laser-red X.” The voice paused for a moment, then changed to a whisper. “Good luck and Godspeed. Somebody’s gotta outlast them Atilla monsters. Maybe you’ll be the first.”

  “We’re going to die,” BBgun whimpered.

  “Chill, chief,” Zebraguts said. “I ain’t dying without a fight.”

  “Doesn’t sound good, though,” Knifetango whispered.

  “Look, let’s just imagine we’re inside one of our favorite games,” Jayden said. “Focus on winning. Got it?”

  “Good point,” Parker said. “You take the lead, Killgeek.”

  “I’m good with that,” Knifetango said. “We’ll need a clan leader.”

  “Good idea, friend,” Zebraguts added.

  “I’m in,” BBgun said. “I don’t want to die.”

  “Come on, Killgeek, let’s kick some Atilla butt. That is if they have butts . . . you lead, we’ll follow,”

  Parker said. “We still have my sister to rescue. Don’t forget that, okay?”

  Jayden knew Parker was right. “Roger that. I’ll do it. Let’s get there first and see what we’re up against.

  Then we’ll look for someplace to ditch these pods. Use gamer names from now on. Stay close, G-striker.”

  “Now you’re talking,” Parker said with a hoot.

  “Kick butt,” Zebraguts said.

  “Time to rock,” Knifetango added.

  Jayden scanned through the music channels and found one that got his blood pumping. “Everyone switch to music channel three-niner-one. It’ll be our theme song, but keep the volume low enough so we can communicate. We’re going to show these dirty Atilla gorillas how we roll back in the hood.”

  “Oh, brother,” Parker whispered. “Back in our gated-community hood?”

  “We’re going to die,” BBgun groaned.

  “BBgun, get your act together. Today is not
a good day to die,” Jayden said. “So listen up and do what we say, or I’ll blast you myself.” Jayden moved a control for his crane arm and smacked the side of BBgun’s pod.

  “Got it?”

  “Roger.” BBgun’s voice wobbled. “BBgun ready.”

  “Knifetango ready.”

  “Zebraguts ready.”

  A moment passed, then another. “Parker, I mean, G-striker, you there?”

  “Roger, Killgeek, G-striker here. Just making a few modifications.”

  “Modifications?” Jayden asked Parker.

  “You’ll see. Snipe weapon configured along with blaster and scatter mode. It took a minute, but I figured it out. There’s a blue button above your head that activates what appear to be grenade launchers. The switches allow you to configure how the weapons will fire,” Parker said. “G-striker, ready.”

  A gong sounded. “Prepare for engagement,” a woman’s voice said. “Don’t move, children, until the door opens.” She sounded as if she was someone’s grandmother managing a crosswalk.

  Jayden still didn’t feel any motion at all. It was hard to comprehend that they were already halfway across the Milky Way Galaxy and headed into battle on an alien planet.

  Suddenly, a hologram popped up in front of his face, and the grandmotherly-sounding voice counted down as though she were reading a nursery rhyme. Jayden stiffened.

  Her calm voice continued. “5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1.”

  The white wall in front of their pods fell forward like a ramp, landing on the ground outside with a crash.

  Dust filled the air.

  Jayden, Parker, and the other boys sat silently in their robo pods.

  When the dust cleared, Jayden looked out and saw utter chaos. Massive, blown-up piles of metal and concrete slabs covered the landscape. A block away, golden skyscrapers with hundreds of brightly lit windows towered into a red sky. The buildings were at least a hundred stories high and lined both sides of the wide street on which they’d landed.

  Crumpled structures and crushed metal vehicles littered the street. Flying spacecraft and UFOs zoomed above like flies over rotten hamburger. Everything near them was either blown up or on fire. Destroyed robo pods were stacked on top of other crumpled vehicles. It looked to Jayden like a massive pile-up of eighteen-wheelers.

  Jayden scanned the landscape. Farther away, he watched as bombs dropped from a sky full of buzzing fighter craft. Closer to them, he saw lines of marching Space Command robo pods.

  Jayden didn't see a single red X. Nothing around them looked like the alien killers Leader Nuk’ana had described to them. Nearby, a group of tall, pink creatures with large, round eyes, stick legs and arms, ran around frantically like ants in a frying pan. Two thin antennae extended high above their pointed heads. Jayden couldn't believe crazy-looking bug creatures were one of the galaxy’s most intelligent life forms.

  A large mass of flying metal suddenly crashed near them, exploding upon impact.

  “Killgeek?” Parker screamed. “What do we do?”

  Jayden swallowed hard and searched down the city block for a place to take cover. He tried to breathe, but couldn’t.

  Jayden was officially in choke mode.

  “Killgeek!” Parker yelled. “Talk to us!”

  “Crap!” Zebraguts yelled. “Say something!”

  Jayden forced out a stutter, “Give me a second.”

  “Oh man . . . follow me!” shouted Parker.

  Through the transparent skin of his pod, Jayden saw Parker’s robo pod take off down the ramp and into the street. His tank treads were zipping.

  “Wait!” Jayden shouted. “Get back here! You’ll be dead in ten seconds without us backing you up.”

  Parker stopped his robo pod and turned back toward the transport. He raced his machine back up the ramp.

  Jayden was coming out of his fog. Parker's “leap before looking” approach would get them all killed. He scanned the street for something large enough to hide five massive robot rear ends. The glow of a raging skyscraper fire lit up the area.

  There, he thought, a good place to regroup. A short way down the street, Jayden spied the entrance to an alley with towering skyscrapers on either side.

  “G-striker, get on my six, the rest of you guys move to my right. Pronto!” Jayden’s head cleared, but his heart raced like a hot rod. “Follow me, now!”

  “Thank goodness you woke up,” Parker mumbled, moving his pod aside so that Jayden could take the lead.

  Jayden ignored him. He quickly figured out that pushing the right foot pedal made his robo pod move fast, while the left one slowed him down. He used the controls to move the upright tank into a bent-over position, with the tank body positioned horizontally above the top of the treads. The seat rotated too, so Jayden stayed upright. The pod moved awkwardly at first, but then Jayden figured it out and accelerated. He zipped down the ramp and weaved through burning piles of metal, before turning down the alley.

  Jayden checked to make sure all the pods were following him. Only three. Dang it, he thought.

  BBgun whimpered over the voice monitor. He hadn’t left the transport. The kid was a sitting duck inside the large square vehicle that had brought them there.

  Blasts and explosions erupted nearby. “BBgun!” Jayden screamed. “Move it, now!”

  No response.

  Jayden softened his voice. “BBgun, I need you to focus. Press the pedal on your right and use the trackball to steer. Push the button in front of your nose to move your pod over here.”

  “Oh, that’s how it works?” BBgun said. “Be right there.”

  The kid accelerated out of the transport and made his way to the alley next to Jayden. Just as he joined them, a bomb blew up their transport in a rolling ball of fire and smoke.

  “That was a little too close for comfort,” BBgun said.

  “No kidding,” Jayden said. “BBgun, you gotta get a grip or you won’t last long. Now huddle up, boys.”

  They repositioned their pods in the alley as if they were a huddling football team.

  Jayden studied the alley. It was about thirty-feet wide and easily a mile long. On both sides, the golden walls of skyscrapers towered overhead.

  “G-striker,” Jayden said, “do some hunting, would you?”

  “Roger that, Killgeek.” Parker replied.

  Parker left the cover of the alley and disappeared down the street. A skyscraper a block away took a direct hit. Exploding glass and gold fragments rained down on the street.

  “Everyone stay put until G-striker gets into position!” Jayden shouted.

  Jayden watched on his heads-up display as Parker’s hologram pushed buttons and moved controls inside his pod. A few more minutes passed before Jayden tapped both feet. His best friend was taking way too long.

  “Report, G-striker.”

  Silence.

  He tried again. “G-striker, would you tell me what you’re doing? Please—”

  “Take a chill pill, would you, Killgeek? Need another second or two. Standby.”

  Massive bomb explosions were getting closer. Jayden was officially beyond nervous.

  “Okay, I’m set,” Parker said, finally. “In hawk eye position around the corner, about twenty feet above you.”

  Above? Jayden thought. He moved his pod towards the street and the others followed him, then peered around the corner. “What the heck?”

  Parker waved with one of his robo pod’s massive, metal crane arms.

  Jayden gave a half-wave back. His robo pod had somehow drilled into the side of the building.

  “How’d you manage to get a big butt, mass of metal to stick on the side of a skyscraper?” Jayden asked.

  “A slight modification,” Parker said. “These puppies have some epic thrusters on them. Boy howdy. I was flying when I used ’em. Totally insane. The pod has giant clamps like way cool gecko claws.”

  Jayden pressed a button on the control panel that caused a new heads-up display to appear showing distinct i
mages from inside each one of the pods.

  Zebraguts’s eyes went wide and his jaw tight. “Serious mojo.” He worked the controls of his pod super-fast.

  “What do you see?” asked Knifetango. His hologram scratched under his black cap and rubbed his crooked nose every few seconds. Then he moved his hands across the control panel just as fast as Zebraguts had.

  “We got twenty metal monsters about the size of upended minivans heading our way,” Parker said with passion. “They have a big cylinder body unit and a treaded bottom piece.”

  Jayden knew Parker was in “game on” mode. “Are red X s showing up on your display?” Jayden asked.

  “Yep.” Parker paused. “Holy smokes.”

  “What?” Jayden asked him.

  “There’s a row of guns going all around their cylinder bodies,” Parker muttered.

  “Guns?” Zebraguts asked.

  Parker nodded. “Yep. Multiples. Gun barrels a foot apart, built into a cylinder that rotates around the entire frame. Three hundred and sixty degrees of pain.”

  A rotating machine gun? Bad news. Just when he was gaining a pinch of confidence, the alien firepower became more ridiculous. “Roger,” Jayden said. “Recommendations?” He noticed that at least one hundred robo pods had been obliterated only a few blocks away.

  Parker chimed in. “They’re moving forward, destroying row after row of pods like ours. Dang. It’s a total massacre. Looks like the Atilla are hammering our guys big time. No red X s on the ones getting blown to bits.”

  He paused. “The way things look . . . we don’t stand a chance.”

  BBgun sniffled.

  “Give me options, G-striker,” Jayden said. “I’m not ready for game-over yet.”

  Parker's hologram nodded, then continued. “Position two of our squad on the far side of the street. Put them in the alley across from your position. Keep one with you. I’ll stay up top and snipe. Everybody, use your blasters in rapid fire. Look for the blue switches and turn them on. Press and hold the yellow button to fire.”

  “I see the switches,” Zebraguts said.

  “Me too,” added Knifetango.