by J. M. Hagan
The guns they held, they were lit up along the barrel and looked like something from a videogame. What the…are these people…human?
Jack grabbed on his hair, trying to process all of this madness. But then her captor said something. He quickly shot her saviour in the belly. A blue orb of energy shot out his back with a spray of blood and burned into the bark of the tree behind him.
He fell, his gun going off on the way down.
*
Venec crashed down on his back – his bullet hit Siena in the belly.
They both had gut-wounds; something that pretty much guaranteed a slow, painful death.
Siena dropped. Her small frame folded up when she hit the ground.
Before he could even feel bad about it, he saw Amataius reel away in pain. The bullet had gone through her, and torn through his armour at the side.
His side was burning with hot sparks like a firework had been taped to it. Amataius growled in agony. Venec, with difficulty, grabbed onto a nearby rock and pulled his body behind cover.
Gruelling in pain, he advanced toward his position, firing a barrage of bullets that were sending blasts of sparks about his head.
Amataius raced up the hill until Venec was in sight, and then he aimed for Venec's head.
It was his turn to hesitate – the downed inventor had thrown the shock grenade from his pouch right at him, and it went off just inches from Amataius’ chest.
A thundering concussion rang that popped his ears.
A great pulsing wave ringed out and lifted Amataius.
His armour shattered, his bones snapped and crunched. Blood leapt from his mouth, as a great howl escaped him on the way down. He crashed down on some rocks with a wet squelch of blood.
“Venec!” Cane screamed in his ear. “I’m closing in on your location!”
Venec coughed and blood choked him. He had to turn to the side and spit some out. “Cane – I’m down,” he managed, then coughed again.
“Amataius?”
“Down…”
Luciana…he got what he deserved. Finally…
*
Anderson and Claudia arrived behind him, screaming his name, and Jack turned to them teary-eyed, pulling on his hair. “Guys, I don’t know what the hell is going on! But someone just shot, Siena!”
Claudia went pale. Anderson went red. “What the hell?!” he cried, putting a hand on his shaking head.
“Is she alive?” begged Claudia.
“I don’t know. Whoever shot her…he’s dead. We have to go help her, guys. There’s nobody else around to help! She might bleed to death!”
So, they ran up the hill and found Siena on the ground. As they passed the guy who’d shot her, Claudia and Anderson couldn’t help but stop and stare in wonder at the suit of red armour he was wearing. It had been shinning pristinely before. Now, it was all cracked and shattered, as he lay in a pool of blood, his face frozen in a look of sheer agony.
Claudia dropped down next to her as Siena held her belly, weeping in pain. She said something when she saw them. Then shut her eyes again and shuddered like a cold hand had just been placed on her back.
This wasn’t just the pain of her wound. Siena’s expression revealed to him she was in a deep pit of despair. Her hair fell away from her ear as her head dropped, and Claudia gasped.
“My God,” she whispered. “Look at her ears!”
They had three red ridges just above the lobe. Jack swallowed. She really is an alien…
Someone called them. Jack turned and saw a big guy standing on the hill. He had a gun pointed right at them.
“Jack Murphy?” he said, astonished, looking at Anderson, then to Jack, then again to Anderson.
“How the hell do you know my name?” Jack questioned, fearing the answer.
11
The youngster with the spiked black hair swallowed as he nodded. His cheeks were pale white. Cane kept his gun pointed at him and waved them over.
“I am Cane.”
None of them seemed to comprehend. “Cane,” he said, pointing to himself this time.
He waved them away from Siena. They backed off, stiff from fear. Cane glanced at her nasty wound. “Siena...?”
Her eyes opened after a moment. “Cane…I’m sorry,” she pleaded. “I’m sorry for everything…”
She drifted off. Cane checked her pulse. It was growing faint. He pointed to Jack. With great trepidation, the native approached him. Cane motioned his arms to show he wanted him to pick her up. Jack seemed to catch on, but he hesitated with his hands trembling at his sides.
“Hurry,” Cane barked at him.
Jack understood that well enough. He picked her up with care, then Cane pointed his gun at his friends and led them up the hill. Venec groaned in pain when he had the man with the glasses and the girl lift him up.
He forced them to march toward Europa, well aware of how startling this must’ve been for them. He woke up yesterday having never even held a gun before. Now, he was taking people hostage. But he didn’t have time to worry about their feelings, or how bizarre all of this was.
Venec and Siena were gravely wounded. If he didn’t see to them fast, he knew they’d not have a hope of surviving. I must help Siena…she spared my life. Venec was still conscious, though, and cursing vulgarities as the journey agitated his wound.
The youngsters stopped in amazement when they saw Europa in the distance. Cane urged them on and they went ahead in silent fear. He saw their eyes drink in the starship, as the closer they got, more of Europa became visible between the trees.
They came out into the field where they’d landed and Cane had to shout at them and threaten them with the gun to make them get on-board. They ascended the cargo ramp and Europa opened the black steel door for them to go inside.
“Europa – take off immediately,” Venec commanded gruffly, as he leant heavily on the humans.
When they were all inside, with the cargo bay sealed, Venec got them to wait. “We’re safe,” he said to Cane. “They can’t run away now.” He paused, swallowing hard. “Take the girl to the infirmary and place her in the medical pod. Europa, will instruct you on how to operate it.”
“But, Venec, what about you? How long will this take?”
“Hours. Maybe a day.”
Cane’s eyes widened as he looked at Venec’s bloody wound. “You won’t make it that long, Commander.”
“No.”
“But –”
“No buts. I’ve fought my battle, and I won the only way I could. Now, go.” He winced in agony. “And bring me some damn pain meds. That’s an order.”
Venec made Jack put Siena over Cane’s shoulder. Then he stepped into one of the nearby guest quarters and had the earthlings follow him inside.
Cane hurried to the infirmary.
*
Venec sat down painfully on the sofa of the guest room. The humans stood across from him, pale, teary-eyed, and wondering what the hell was going on. He never saw people so shocked, so afraid.
He watched their faces change as Europa told them in their language what was going on. She had hacked into their satellites and learnt their language in a micro-second.
For a loaded, terrible few seconds, they seemed to abandon all hope. But Europa kept talking, and they came back to the moment with questions. Questions were good, it showed they were already accepting the news.
They asked their questions, she offered responses, but Venec didn’t understand a word of it all. His wound was still bothering him despite the strong pain medication Cane brought a while after their arrival. Siena was stable, but remained in critical condition, as the pod attempted saving her life.
Cane stood in the corner, with his injured arm in the sling. Together, they watched the ever changing faces of the humans. They were in shock since their arrival. The girl and the guy wearing spectacles sat on the bed next to each other. Jack, he was pacing about with trembling hands on his hips.
Jack questioned Europa regarding something, an
d he was laughing in spite of himself, almost on the verge of hysterics. His eyes shining with tears as he ran hands down his face, then he dropped his head meekly when she answered.
The one with glasses looked worried beyond recourse. He sat with an arm across his belly, like he was about to spew his guts. While the girl sat there numb, looking down, her face pale, like she was hardly listening at all.
Venec knew it would’ve hit them hard. But they were holding it together better than expected.
He shut his eyes, losing his battle with exhaustion…
*
"How the heck do you expect us to do all of this?" Jack blurted, defensively crossing his arms.
At first, he had been shocked to learn the eloquent truth that humanity was not alone in the universe. As Europa went on, his pulse had been spiking incrementally, as she shocked them time and again.
"Seriously, this all sounds like it's impossible! You want us to assasinate someone? We're just ordinary people, do you understand what that means? Or is having something like this thrown on you normal in outer space?"
"No," replied Europa. "But, rest assured, everything that you need to become Starmen is already on-board this ship. We have a HC with legitametly licensed programs."
"What’s a HC?" asked Anderson.
Europa explained the hologram technology to them, and Jack was gobsmacked to the point that he didn’t know where to draw the line between fantasy and reality anymore.
"If you pass these tests, then you are entitled to apply for a full license, as a Starman, and as a pilot. You can transport cargo, ferry passengers, request docking at any licensed station. The galaxies are too vast a place for there to be enough academies to train everyone. HCs are used for training. Normally, people only travel to the academies when they are prepared to complete exams."
Claudia sat forward, enticed. "You're saying we will learn everything we need to know, right here, with no one else interferring?"
"Yes."
She sat back like she couldn't believe it, then crossed her arms too. "That will make things easier....I suppose. But, seriously, you want us to be pilots and soldiers? Yesterday, I was working at a damn deli counter! You'll have to bear with us; this has been a wild turn of events."
*
After Venec passed out, they brought him over to a bed, and they were allowed to speak in a seperate room. They went into the first room they could find. It was laid out similarly to the other, but this room had a shower, a television, a cabinet. There was a table in the corner. Jack and Claudia sat on the chairs. Mark sat on the bed across from them.
"Europa, will you be listening in?" Claudia asked brusquely.
"No," said Europa. "Privacy mode has been activated. I can't deactivate it on my own, except to provide necessary updates on our current situation, until I have been commanded otherwise."
Jack didn't know if he could trust that. Then again...it was a computer. They were programmed.
Privacy mode activated.
"Jack, what the fuck?" Claudia whispered, when Europa was gone.
"I know," he replied, shaking his head, his eyes wide and aimed at his feet as he sat forward in unease. His hands were shaking as he held them together between his legs. "I can't even begin to process this...“
"We're being asked to fight for seven billion people! And that isn't even the worst part. We've had our lives taken away from us. Nothing will ever be the same again. We don't have a single thing from our lives to hold on to even. Not one!"
"We've got each other, Claudia," he said softly. "And we're all in this together."
"It's easy, saying that! What isn't easy, is knowing I'll never get to sleep in my bed again. I'll never get to talk to my friends, or any of the guys I liked, or watch my shows, or do my writing...“
"I hear you. I'll miss my house, my family, my life, but if we don't do this, and win, then, pretty soon, we won't have any of that stuff anyway. Right?"
Anderson clasped his hair suddenly. "Oh my God," he cried, in lament. His reactions so far had been of quiet introspection. That outburst wasn't enough to surprise either of them currently, though. "My Dad...my Dad is gonna think I'm dead! We're gonna be considered missing....guys, it'll tear our families apart, not knowing what's happened to us!"
Claudia sprang from her chair. "I never even thought about that! What the hell are we gonna do?!"
"We're gonna send them a message,“ Anderson snapped. "I don't give a shit what this alien, or his ship, has to say – there's no way I'm leaving my Dad like that. I don't care about anything else! Europa...come back, ugh, privacy mode off.“
"Privacy mode disengaged," said Europa, not a second later. "May I be of service, Mark Anderson?"
"I need to go home and see my dad, before we leave!"
Europa calmly replied, "I am afraid that I cannot comply with that request.“
Before Anderson could go off into a fury, she asked: "Those devices you all carry, they are for communication, yes?“
Anderson took out his phone. "Yeah. But they won’t work out here.“
Analysing...
"Leave this problem with me, Mark Anderson. I will develop new software to link these devices with the ship’s coms.“
*
When Venec woke up, he was laying on the bed. The humans were gone. Cane was cleaning his wound, prepping to stitch him up.
“No,” Venec warned, hitting his hand away. “It’s too late. I’m a goner without surgery. Better to go quick.”
Cane hesitated.
“Damn. Talking is hard. No arguing. Just respect my wishes.”
He nodded, stepping back. “Would you like more pain relief?”
Venec extended his hand. Cane took pills from the bottle and gave them over. He popped them in his mouth and Cane gave him some of the water he brought earlier to wash them down.
“Where are they?”
“I have assigned them quarters,” said Cane, “and asked them to rest until morning. They’ve been through a lot. They need sleep.”
“Yeah,” said Venec, waving him over. “So do I. More pills.”
Cane didn’t protest. At this stage, taking too much was the best option. Without these pills, he’d have been screaming.
“How did they take it?”
“Better than expected,” Cane said, hopefully. “After all, before today, they thought they were alone in the Universe, according to what Europa has told me about Earth.”
“Tell me everything. Give me a cigar...”
Cane reached into Venec’s pocket and retrieved him a cigar. Then he put it between his lips and sparked it up. Venec suckled gently; it was all he could manage as his stomach ached when it tensed.
“I don’t know how they got to Earth, but this human civilisation believes that humans evolved on their world. And, to be honest, I’m not sure if I can dispute that without more research.”
Venec squinted. “I thought humans came from Rovia?”
“No. A common misconception. Rovia was a colony, many thousands of years ago. I learnt Rovian history in school. These Overseers, apparently they brought humans to Rovia from a distant planet deep within the uncharted regions.”
“Cane…that means your ancestors came from Earth?”
Cane shook his head, vexed. “I don’t know. This mystery will not be easily solved. I plan to learn all that I can about Earth from them.”
“Ever the academic,” Venec said, like they were old friends. It was funny, a day ago, he’d never met this man. Now, he was looking down on a dying friend.
He smiled. “Venec…I don’t know that I’m up to all of this. I wish I could do something to…”
“It’s okay, Cane. Look what you’ve been through this past day. You’re from Adanis. But forget…how they thought of you there…”
His face seemed to be getting more relaxed with each breath. The smoking cigar was hanging loosely from the corner of his mouth.
“You are special, Cane. You were…made for this…”
>
Venec coughed, his face contorted. A pained breath followed, and water filled his eyes when they opened. “I can feel her, Cane, she’s with me,” he said, his eyes searching. “I wish…I’d just accepted it…I had no right…trying to play God…”
As Venec’s pale face relaxed fully, Cane watched the thin grey smoke lines swirl, and for a moment, he pondered the soul. He took the cigar from his mouth and then stubbed it out on the tray. Venec was gone.
"Good voyage, Commander…”
Cane wrapped him respectfully in his blanket, and then brought him over his shoulder to the airlock. Rest in peace, my friend.
He gave a ceremonious gesture, a fist to his heart, as he released his body out the airlock. It shot out, then drifted away with a flaming golden sun in the backdrop of endless space. A beautiful sensory farewell...
12
The next morning, Jack felt nauseous lying in his bed. He knew they were moving through space. Even though he couldn't feel it, the thought had his stomach swirling as he listened to the hum of the engines. This is insane!
Some hours had gone by, and he was still processing the information they received from Europa. I should be at home right now, watching TV. But I’m in outer space!
"Earth crew members – please step outside, so that we may begin our tour of the ship,“ called Europa.
"A tour?" asked Jack, staring at the ceiling.
"Yes. This is your new home. It would be prudent for you to familiarise yourself with the layout."
Jack stood at the door a moment with his eyes shut, taking deep breaths. I’ve gotta be strong here. They need me to show them we don’t have to be afraid. Even though I’m scared...
He met Claudia first when he stepped out his door. Her emerald green eyes found him softly. She was upset, as expected. Anderson came out a second later. His eyes were red underneath, like he had spent most of the night crying. Jack‘s dark brows geared in focus.
"Either of you sleep?"
"Nope," Anderson answered. The adrenaline hadn't wore off entirely yet. He was stretched thin.