by Mark Tufo
“Yeah we’ve got some people here that would love to share a word or two with you, but good buddy, please have you and your crew be very selective in your choice of words, with the distance between us we’re afraid that we’ll lose transmission.”
So basically the colonel was just told that he couldn’t say goodbye to the people that meant the most to him in the world. How does one be matter-of-fact with the ones he loves at a time like this? But he knew if any of his crew or himself for that matter fouled up and started down the wrong path, the powers that be would yank the cord on this long distance call in a heartbeat. And that was another thing, he wanted to say goodbye to his wife in private, not with the whole damn military world listening in. But he had chosen this ride too long ago to now buck against the rules. And so he carefully briefed his crew on the do’s and don’ts of their conversations. They were as pleased as the colonel but they were soldiers and they knew their place. He let his crew say their non-goodbyes before his wife of fifteen years took the mike.
“Hey Lauren, how are you doing?” Oh God, she was already sobbing, he knew there was some peon sergeant with his hand on the kill switch.
“Lauren honey, it’s me Ray, are you crying because the Giants lost another close one?” Lauren knew enough about the situation that if she didn’t pull it together soon she wasn’t even going to get her pseudo-goodbye to the only man she had and would ever love.
“Those damn Giants,” she said with a quiver in her voice.
“That’s a girl, they’ll pull it together next season. Don’t you worry, just when you think they’re down and out, there they are always by your side. I need you to be strong for them, Lauren. For our little Giants. Can you do that?”
She more nodded her head in agreement but the Colonel heard the mini whispered ‘yes’ come through the speaker as if she had shouted it.
“That’s my girl. Because the little Giants are going to need a strong coach in the times to come. I’ve already talked to the assistant coach on this Lauren, and he wants you and the team to move in for these difficult rebuilding years. Do you understand?”
“I get it now Ray,” as she choked back the tears. “Sometimes you just have to take one for the team. Even if it is a huge one.”
“I love you Lauren.”
“I love you too Ray.” And it was the colonel that pulled the plug, another second more and he would have started crying. Or worse, he might have pulled on the yoke and turned the damn ship around. For just one more minute in her arms he would’ve done just that.
CHAPTER 44
Inside the Mother ship
“Sir, these humans just might be the most idiotic race that we have encountered thus far.”
“Why crewman, what is going on in their communications?”
“Sir, they are hundreds of thousands of miles away from their home planet, about to encounter a civilization that they are not sure whether is friendly or not, and all they are talking about is an arcane game that they call football.”
“This will be our easiest conquest so far, crewman. Our shore leaves will be doubled for making it such an easy effort.” The crewman and his chief both laughed, they were already considering where they would go on their respective journeys.
CHAPTER 45 – Journal Entry 28
Orbiting Venus
The day of reckoning had arrived. I wasn’t too particularly thrilled about it. The women even less so. The majority of them believed that I wouldn’t even rouse out of my catatonic state to make even a last gesture of defiance. Oh come on, you’ve all seen the t-shirts from back in the late seventies that had a mouse giving the eagle the middle finger right before the eagle was about to have him for lunch. Well my growing legion of followers didn’t even think that I was going to make that effort. And to be honest I wasn’t sure if I was or wasn’t. The guard came, Stephanie told him that I hadn’t moved in weeks and that I was still in bed. The guard was less than amused, he crashed open my doors, this seemed to be a reoccurring theme among them. This time the doors were going to need some attention before they were serviceable again. It really didn’t matter, one way or the other I was going to be gone. The guard picked me up by the back of my pants. I felt like a little kid getting a ‘superman’ ride. I didn’t appear to be fatiguing him in the least, but apparently he didn’t like the way I just dangled there, so with a low grunt he hefted me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. And there it was, his rifle. It was no more than a foot away from my hand. But even that close, if I grabbed it how would I dislodge it from his shoulder? And then what, would it have some sort of safety device I’d never be able to figure out? All those thoughts and ten times that were running through my head. The arena approached a lot faster under his strides, we were just coming up on my entrance. I could hear the electricity buzzing in the crowd. Yeah, this was going to be a big draw night for them. I figured it was going to be a lot like our Super Bowl though, a lot of hype and not much more. Normally the games leading up to the big event were much more noteworthy than the actual championship event. And I didn’t figure that that was going to change today.
For whatever reason, my guard had slung his rifle sling across his chest with the rifle resting on his back with the muzzle pointing down. I moved as slowly as possible so as not to bring attention to myself, I just reached out and placed a finger on what I was ninety-five percent sure was the trigger. I was on his right shoulder and the rifle pointed away from me down toward his left leg when he stepped forward with his right. I was even less sure that his leg was completely in the line of fire but I didn't have the luxury to line up a better shot. If I missed or just grazed him I wouldn’t have to worry about Durgan, because of all the things I wasn’t sure of this evening, I was sure this guard would kill me in an instant regardless of the consequences. I waited till his left leg was at its apex behind him and then pulled the trigger. Nothing happened; I figured there was a safety. And then I watched in horror or glee as my abductor’s leg literally dissolved right before me. I guess it’s hard to see stuff when you have your eyes closed. He fell over immediately; I think that he was in too much shock to even register the fact that he had just lost his leg. Falling eight feet wasn’t any fun either, I slammed against the far wall thinking that I had once again dislocated my shoulder, but now was not the time to worry about that. He was in the process of attempting to flip himself over, if he did, it would take me and three other people a half hour to get that rifle up from under him. I kicked him where every animal is the most sensitive, square in the eye. That pain did register and he was beginning to howl. My time alone was growing short, luckily he was entirely too busy with his ruined eye and missing leg to give a shit about his rifle. But I still had the sling to contend with and that thing looked like it could tow a car. I had to finish him off; even an errant lashing out from him would break me in two. I just kept kicking him in the head till my leg ached. I was afraid I was going to cramp up, there I’d be, massaging a charley horse with a dead guard, I didn’t think that would go over so well. After seven or eight kicks he stilled. I don’t think he was dead but I wasn’t going to check his pulse either. I unslung the rifle from him and not a moment too soon. I didn’t know what the guard said as he emerged from the arena floor, but I’m sure it was something along the lines of “What the hell is going on here? What is the delay? Get your ass in here!” But whatever it was I wasn’t waiting for an interpreter. Shoot now and let God sort them out later was my motto for the evening. The second guard flew back into the arena with a fist-sized hole blown right through the middle of him. And much to my chagrin the whole scene had made its way on to the big screen, because they had been waiting for my grand entrance. Well I gave them a grand entrance, probably not what they were expecting though. I ran in and took a sharp left into the packed stands. I figured that every single one of the audience had their eyes on me or on my image in the screen. The Progerians were surprisingly subdued; I guess they really didn’t like to get their hands dirty. Wherea
s none of them were moving, the guards were running at full tilt to converge on my location. But they weren’t shooting. They didn’t want to risk taking out any one of their leaders. I luckily had no such compunction about it. If anyone stepped in my way, whether trying to get out of my way or merely to block my path, the outcome was the same. I shot them, they died. I had no clue how many rounds this thing held, sooner or later I was going to find out. The thirty to forty yards I had to traverse to get to my destination were the most blood littered I had yet ever encountered, and the guards had yet to let a shot fly. I arrived where the Supreme Commander would be sitting, and to my astonishment he was still there. He never moved, even with all the bedlam going on around me. All I could think was that he was so confident in his position he didn’t think anything could touch him. I don’t know if Crocodiles or Progerians sweat but when I placed the rifle against his head two things happened. First the Supreme Commander actually gave me a look of surprise and secondly and more importantly the entire arena came to a standstill. The guards stopped all pursuit, which was a good thing because three or four of them were less than twenty feet from where I stood. Nobody moved a muscle.
“Stand!” I yelled at the Commander. “Fucking stand you ugly bitch or I’ll blow your head off.”
“No need to shout hu-man,” he said as he stood. “I understand you perfectly, but what gives you the right to put a weapon to MY head, you puny little hu-man.”
“You know what gives me the right? I’ll tell you,” and I rattled off all of the names of the victims that I had killed for their entertainment. He didn’t get the connection.
“You know you’ll never make it out of here hu-man.”
“If I don’t, neither do you, your Excellency.” And I knew he didn’t get it but the Excellency part was laced with dripping sarcasm.
“Beth, get down here!” I yelled. I didn’t dare take my eyes off of the guard that was closest. I couldn’t tell but he seemed to be inching closer.
“Beth, hurry up!” I yelled again.
“That could be a small problem,” she yelled back. I risked a glance over my shoulder; a guard had her by the scruff of the neck and did not appear to be willing to negotiate.
“Listen Mr. Supreme, you tell your henchman to let Beth, I mean the Queen of the Games go or I’m going to put their boss’s brains all over the arena floor.” I was spitting by this time. One of the guards was inching closer; it was a no-brainer, I didn’t consider him worthy of living anyway. I perched the rifle over the commander’s shoulder and blew a hole right through the guard. I even felt a little special, as I had taken out an extra paying patron behind him too.
“Now back to you Mr. Supreme, I hate you and your kind and I have no problem with killing as many of you as I can before I run out of ammo. But I guarantee you’ll be one of the deceased.”
“You just killed the Prime Minister of Arabak. Mr. Talbot, I will personally see to your death.”
“Well, now that we’re over the niceties let’s get back to business. He lets her go now or you and a bunch of your friends are going to die.” He spoke to his guard in that halting choppy croc-speak, but the gist off it was pretty much let the girl go and back away. I hoped he hadn’t added any extra instructions but that problem would have to be dealt with at a later time. Durgan strode into the arena just at that moment. He seemed very befuddled to be entering without the cheers of his admirers. It was then that he saw on the big screen the carnage and who I was holding prisoner.
“You let him go now Talbot! Or I’ll fucken kill you.” He was shaking with rage as he spat this out.
“Uh, I’m a little busy right now Durgan, you’re just going to have to wait your turn,” I answered back. I didn’t even have to yell. The acoustics in this place were great and it was very, very quiet.
“You have no right to take this away from me Talbot. I’m moments away from my biggest glory and you’re fucking ruining it for me.”
“I’m sorry Durgan. I know that I should have just laid down and died for you today but I wasn’t feeling very giving. Sometimes it’s just not in my nature. My mother always accused me of being a taker and not a giver.” Durgan was enraged, he started to enter into the stands but the guards weren’t letting another rogue human in. The guard closest to him stepped in his way. Durgan didn’t hesitate, he punched the guard square in the solar plexus and the guard doubled over in pain. With some effort but not all, not by a long shot, Durgan grabbed him around the neck and pulled upwards, severing the guard’s spinal cord from his neck. He walked through a second guard like he was tissue paper. Thank God for Durgan, he actually took some of the heat off of me. Two of the guards now had their rifles trained right on Durgan’s head. He didn’t have a weapon or a hostage and he was in the wide open. He stopped his advance, but the rage inside him was boiling over. His face was beet red, veins as thick as sausages were sticking out all over the place. He was quaking like a volcano about to erupt.
“I’m going to kill you Talbot!” And I knew he meant it. But I had bigger fish to fry at the moment.
“Kill, kill, kill, that's all anyone wants to do around here! Like I said Durgan, you’re going to have to wait in line just like everyone else.” He literally howled in rage and frustration. Beth in the meantime had made her way down to me. I gave her a small hug and I could feel the ever so slight stiffness when I touched her. Well that answered my question. She wasn’t going to mind if my savagery saved her but after that I didn’t think she’d want any part of me. Well, like I said before, I had bigger fish to fry at the moment, love or lack of wasn’t on the list quite yet.
I needed to act and I needed to act fast. But in what direction? I hadn’t really believed that I would get this far. If I made the Progerians clear a path that could possibly give the guards a clear shot at Beth or me. If I left them where they were, would one of them make a move? I knew that the Progerians preferred the hands off approach but if pushed to the edge would they attack? I really didn’t know them well enough to make an informed decision. I was fairly certain though that the guards would take full advantage of any opportunity. I had sort of made up my mind. Rifle pressed firmly to the Supreme Commander’s head we moved, Beth pushed ahead with the Supreme Commander following her and me bringing up the rear. Durgan was still screaming at the top of his lungs.
“Hey Durgan!” I yelled over my shoulder. “Stephanie doesn’t say hi.” Holy cow, that shut him up. I think I could feel him boiling with rage. Apparently he never knew that she was my roommate, and I just let him ponder on what may or may not have happened between us. I didn’t know why I felt the need to antagonize him, but that got him moving again. Only this time he was running across the arena floor to meet me at the other entrance. He was going to foul everything up.
“Stop him now Commander, or the guards are going to have some Supreme brain to clean up later.” He may not have understood sarcasm but he understood the threat just fine. He said something in his native tongue, a blue flash passed by us no further than three feet away and that was the end of Durgan’s right leg. It just sort of disappeared; I saw white bone protruding from below his kneecap and nothing else. He fell in a heap screaming and writhing in agony. I almost felt pity for him, no actually I didn’t but I didn’t want to sound too inhumane. Well I now knew that the guards were excellent shots; I almost crawled up onto the Supreme Commander’s back. As it was there was no more than three inches from any part of my body to any part of his. I might as well have been a human fur, the way that I was draped over him. To shoot at me the guards ran the risk of the exit discharge going into their leader and as bad as they wanted to kill me that was in direct proportion to how much they didn’t want to harm their leader. For the most part the crowd parted as my small troupe made its way through. Once though, whether on purpose or by accident one, of the Progos shot a foot out. I nearly stumbled, I had to grab on to the Commander’s belt to keep from toppling over. When I had regained my full balance I quickly turned the rifle
and blew off that offending foot. Nobody else’s feet even came close after that.
“There was no reason to blow off my Computer Engineer’s foot,” the Supreme Commander said calmly. He was a cool cookie under pressure, I’d give him that much.
“Well you see Mr. Supreme Commander, sir. I basically did it for my entertainment and enjoyment.” He stiffened much like Beth had when I first touched her. We finally reached the entrance, the two dead guards were still there but they now had fifteen or so live companions waiting right around the bend.
“Call them off, Supe. You know the drill. Hole in the head and all. Tell them to put down their weapons.” The commander hesitated. I jammed the rifle even further into his skull.
“Now!” I screamed.
He complied; they hesitantly put down their weapons.
“Now tell them to back away from the weapons and to open my cell door.”
“Oh come on hu-man, where do you really think this is going to end up, tonight I will be eating dinner in my quarters and I guarantee you will be the main course. Let me go now, we’ll fix up Durgan and you can die like a man in the arena.”
“Um let me think about that. Gee no, you fuck, now tell them to do what I asked.”
He resisted so I shot a guard square in the chest, it smelled a lot like chicken. If I ever got the chance I was going to eat one of those things, just to see if the smell resembled the taste. The guards almost advanced on me. The commander raised his hand and spoke their native tongue, they backed away from their weapons and one ran back down the corridor. Whether to get help or to open my cell I wasn’t sure.
“Beth, grab a rifle!”
“Mike, you know I hate those things.”
“Now is not the time to be a liberal, grab a fucken weapon!” She reluctantly picked one up.
“Now keep that thing aimed squarely at the Commander’s chest, anything happens to me just drill a hole in him.”