by Eric Johnson
Emmett interrupted. “We have to stop it before it gets to the moon, if it’s going to the moon. My guess is that it’ll take three days to get there, but we can’t be certain that we are really in space, we have only assumed that. Maybe we can use this screen. Press these buttons and see.”
Tom agreed and started to press buttons and turn knobs. The picture on the screen changed from read out graphics to a blur of red, blue and green and then an image of the gyroscope appeared.
Emmett turned a knob and the screen changed to a view of the engine from a different angle. “This is a monitoring station for the engine.”
“It has to give us a view of the ship. We have to be able to see where we are.” Tom growled and hit the control console; the screen changed. “See, it shows you other places in the ship,” he said in a proud “told you so” voice. It was the room above them with the doors to the planting room.
Then the view switched, showing a receding blue ball. Anidea gasped, “That’s the Earth.”
“Wow,” Emmett said in reverence, “it’s so small. This proves that we did take off. This is better than any space science camp will ever be.”
Tom stared at the screen, if there was any doubt that their mission was more complicated than he ever could have imagined, it was gone. He took a deep breath. “How are we going to get back to Earth?”
They watched in silence as the Earth slowly shrank away, then the view shifted away from the earth. The screen showed two lizardmen entering the elevator.
“Uh oh,” Winston gasped.
Panicking Anidea said, “There’s nowhere to hide in here.”
“If we had guns. We could take them out,” Winston said.
“I know you’re itching to shoot up the place Winston,” Tom told him. “But we don't know what floor they are going too, they might not be coming here.”
“They're coming here, I know it,” Anidea said.
“There's the door across the walkway. We can go that way,” Tom said.
Anidea shook her head. “Through those arcs? We'll be killed.”
“If we are caught here, we'll be killed just as dead,” Emmett reminded them. “Watch, now. See how the pistons push the electricity back, that's when we can get across. Time it just like that grabber. We can make it.”
Tom saw the fear on Winston’s face. “I don't like it either, but that’s our route. On the count of three we go together. Okay?”
Timing the crossing wouldn’t be that difficult, but he thought it was probably the most dangerous thing he would ever do. Huddled together, they stood at the edge of the walkway waiting for the pistons to extend and push the electric arcs into place. “Three!” Tom yelled and they darted between the arcs to the other door.
Half-way across, Winston tripped on his shoelaces, Anidea reached down quickly, pulling him to his feet. They moved so fast that with the effects of the lower gravity they couldn’t stop and slammed into the wall on the far side of the walkway. Tom grasped the door handle and pulled the lever down. Fortunately, it wasn’t locked; the door slid open and they piled in.
Looking back across the room before he shut the door, Tom stopped. The lizardmen were pointing at him, their heads bobbing up and down and tilting from side to side. They were surprised, just as surprised as he was scared. One ran to the control room and the other stayed watching him through the electrical arcs.
They were shielded from the lizardmen by the glowing arcs. It didn’t seem like they would risk crossing bridge. Tom closed the door and turned to see Anidea, Winston and Emmett huddled together shivering in the center of the room. He pressed the locking mechanism on the door and the chill ran over his body too. That’s when it hit him, the room was icy cold.
“It’s freezing in here,” Anidea said through chattering teeth. “Every other place on this ship is hot. Why here?”
“I know,” Emmett said. “It has to be the computer room. Computers have to stay cool to work.”
The air in the room smelled sweet and a light mist bubbled out vents around the room, covering the floor. There was only the one door.
“We’re trapped in here and it won’t be long before they come for us,” Tom said.
A click sound came from under the mist. The mist turned from white to gold and then cleared away, disappearing into little square holes in the floor. Tom immediately looked to Emmett, “What did you do?”
He was standing by the door and shrugged. “Wasn’t me.”
“That was me,” Anidea announced. “There’s a control panel on this wall.”
Tom shook his head. “Don’t touch anything.”
Sockets in the ceiling clicked open. Beams of light struck down into the holes on the floor. One glanced Winston’s arm, causing him to scream in pain and pull back. He pressed his body tightly against the wall. His shirt sleeve smoldered and he slapped his arm to put it out.
“Are you okay?” Tom asked.
“It hurts like hell,” Winston grunted through his teeth, trying to hold back the pain.
“No one move, and stay out of the lights,” Tom ordered.
“You don’t have to tell me,” Anidea said.
“You pushed the button.”
“These lights must be some sort of security defense,” Emmett surmised.
Tom moved toward Winston to help him, avoiding the light beams.
Click.
Beams of light shot out horizontally from the walls. Anidea hollered in pain as a light beam burned across her shoulder, cutting through her backpack strap, causing it to fall and hang loose. She shrank down against the wall, moaning.
“What did you start?” Tom demanded of Anidea. “If there are more beams coming, we’re burnt bacon.”
The light beams formed a grid three feet above the floor, making squares and trapping them in place.
“Emmett, figure out how to turn off the light beams,” Tom said.
Tom squatted down to crawl under the beams when the door slid open. A lizardman stood in the doorway. He held what looked like a pistol in his hands; green fire crackled from the end as he lowered it at Tom to strike.
Winston was the first to react and threw his hatchet. The lizardman cried out and sparks shot out of the pistol as it flew from its hands. Startled, the lizardman hopped backward, right into the arcs of blue electric fire on the walkway. It was held in place for a second then and then instantly vaporized. If the lizardman screamed it could not be heard over the noise from the engine.
“My hand!” Winston yelled as Emmett closed the door. “The sparks shot out and burnt my hand.”
The beams of light turned off.
“What just happened?”
“I didn’t do anything,” Anidea said. “I know when not to mess with stuff.”
Tom picked up the lizardman’s gun. “We have to get out of here right now. They know what we are capable of and it won’t be long before they open that door again. The way I see it, we have two choices. We wait here and fight or we take the fight to them. And I have a plan.”
Winston smiled, he was ready for it.
“Wait, what about the control panel?” Anidea asked. “We’re supposed to sabotage the ship, right? That’s our plan.”
“Emmett,” Tom said. “Try and figure out the controls. Be quick though, we don't have much time. Anidea get the first aid kit out of my pack for Winston.”
Emmett flipped a few switches and a control console and screen slid out from the wall. Shocked by what he saw, he exclaimed. “What’s this? It says Dell on it!” He could do it now. This was something familiar. The lizardmen were using earth technology to help run their ship. Although the keyboard keys had been altered to fit the reptilian claws the prompt came up. C. Laughing to himself, he typed.
C:>format c:
WARNING ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK
DRIVE C: WILL BE LOST.
Proceed with Format (Y/N)?
“Destructively yes. That should do it,” he announced proudly.
Tom was more inte
rested in the coming battle. “Hurry up with the bandages, Anidea. We need to get moving now.”
Disappointed, Emmett shrugged, “Nothing happened? I don’t get it.” It was anticlimactic and he was disappointed that the only thing to happen was the computer beeped once. He didn’t know what to expect though. Maybe it did something elsewhere.
Tom opened the door. Across the walkway, the other lizardman saw him and retreated into the control room. Tom stepped out of the room onto the walkway. The lizardman’s actions told Tom that they weren’t all warriors; maybe this one was scared, maybe they were scientists like the astronauts of Earth.
Timing the arcs again, they ran back across the walkway. Winston went to open the control room door but it was locked. Tom motioned for everyone to get in the elevator, keeping his gun trained on the control room door.
The elevator door closed and he pressed a button to go up. Nothing happened. “It isn’t working, they must have turned it off,” Tom said.
“Maybe I sabotaged the elevator,” Emmett said, sounding disappointed.
“There’s an access hatch,” Winston pointed at the ceiling.
Using their newfound strength from the lessened gravity they jumped up and struck the panel, popping it open. Standing on top of the elevator they looked up the shaft. There were no cables to climb, only three holed depressions in the wall, like ladder rungs for another species.
Leading the way, Tom climbed up. The hand holds were awkward but he managed and it wasn’t long before he noticed gridded panels covering the shaft walls that were between the floors.
“Shouldn’t we go to the top?” Anidea asked.
“How far up are we?” Winston wanted to know.
“Two floors, I’ve been counting,” Emmett informed Winston.
“I think we should find out where these shafts go,” Tom said, and pulled on an access panel, it came open easily and he tossed to the side. “This way. Everyone in here.”
It was pitch black in the conduit. Emmett turned on his flashlight. Bundles of wires and glass tubes lined the walls and ceiling. “This must be a maintenance shaft,” he said. “See, that’s like a fuse box.”
“This place gets weirder and weirder,” Anidea said.
Tom had forgotten about his flashlight and clicked it on. “This way.”
They crawled until they came to a junction that split off in in six directions.
“Let’s rest here,” Tom said quietly. “Then we will take the next exit out.”
A spider-crab appeared, and as it neared Anidea raised her foot to kick it. Tom stopped her. “We can’t risk any chance of giving ourselves away.”
It made a faint whirring sound as it passed.
“It sounded like a vacuum to me,” Emmett said.
The spider-crab was gone and the lizardmen were no longer an immediate threat. “Maybe they aren’t all warriors, some are scientists,” Tom shared his hunch, “and they are on a shopping trip like when we go to the grocery store.”
Anidea wasn’t convinced. “Yeah, right.”
“Why would they be using earth technology?” Winston asked.
“Maybe they needed to make repairs and they didn’t have spare parts, or maybe our technology is better than theirs,” Emmett said. “That means they must have been to Earth before. But wouldn’t we know about it if an entire town disappeared? I mean, would we? People in general? That computer I rigged said Tandy, that’s like from my grandfather’s time back in the 90’s when there wasn’t sophisticated technology like we have now. Maybe that’s how they got away with it.”
Their conversation trailed off into silence and Tom closed his eyes to listen to the pulse of the ship. Later, rested, they moved on.
Teddy Bears, Deer, and Ducks
After several quick kicks the vent cover opened and fell to the floor. Tom poked his head out into the hallway. He gave the all clear sign and climbed out.
In turn, Tom looked Anidea, Emmett, and Winston in the eye. “Ready for this? Remember they aren’t human and they won’t hesitate to kill you.”
They were the invaders now, and they were about to turn the tables. They were planning to hijack the ship, creating a disturbance to draw the lizardmen out, and then take them by surprise. Using the lesser gravity to their advantage, they pounded on every door and yelled their way through the ship.
It worked; lizardmen came out into the corridors to see what the commotion was about. Now the only thing left was to make they sure chased them.
Tom taunted the aliens. “Come on and get us, lizards!”
“It’s working. Shot them.” Winston whooped.
“Not yet, wait for more of them.”
“How many is enough?” Emmett asked.
“I’ll let you know.”
“There’s, like twenty,” Anidea said. “Do we shoot them now?”
Tom stopped, waved his arms and yelled at them one last time, “Over here! Over here, come get us!”
They lined behind Tom, and readied themselves.
“Wait for it. Make it count,” Tom instructed. “When they drop their weapons, grab them, it’s the only way we’ll make it.”
Suddenly a door opened behind them. Anidea whipped around. Tom, Winston and Emmett, turned too, but froze with surprise. A lizardman held Anidea in its claws. She cried out as it sank its teeth into her shoulder. Her head rolled back and then fell forwards as clean red lines spider-webbed across her skin; white flakes rose and fell off.
Anidea muttered. “I don’t feel so good.”
Winston snapped out of his fear and grabbed for her. Emmett stood, unable to react, but Tom dove forward to stop the lizardman. It was already too late. As quickly as the lizardmen appeared it slipped back into the room, pulling Anidea with it. They charged the door, desperately trying to open it, but it was locked from the inside. Charging hisses and growls reverberated from behind. Their pursuers were about to overtake them. Tom turned and he yelled, “Fire!”
Huddled together in a defensive formation, they faced the advancing enemy. They moved to engage the aliens, Tom firing in quick succession. Ten lizardmen fell, killed by the sparking beam from the pistol. They scattered and fled down the hall, the others diving into doorways and out of sight.
Winston and Emmett turned back to the locked door and tried to open it.
“We have to get in there.” Winston cried out desperately.
Tom picked up a spear and tossed it to Winston. “I know,” he said coldly. “Right now, we have to hunt the survivors down. Then we’ll find a way in to save Anidea.”
“We can’t leave her,” Winston’s voice shook. “Please, Tom, we have to get her.”
“I feel the same way, but we can’t stop and give them time to regroup.” Realistically he thought she was already dead, but he wasn’t about to say so. The lizardman had no reason to keep her alive. Humans were just food to them, and up to now they had been no more of an annoyance than trying to get chickens back in a coop before sunset. The lizardmen could give up on that idea. This particular human was about to make them think very differently.
Tom marched down the hallway towards the fallen lizardmen and stopped at the pile of bodies and kicked at a dead alien. “Emmett, search them for weapons. We’ll work room by room and clear each one. You guys watch my back.”
Emmett looked up from the body-search, “They don’t have any weapons, just this crystal.”
“Let’s go,” Tom said.
No longer needing to hide, they moved down the hall trying every door. Almost all of them were locked and the ones that weren’t revealed empty rooms. They made it to the center hub of the spaceship and stopped at the elevator by the spiral walkway.
“Look, that’s the planting room door down there,” Emmett pointed out, feeling like he was beginning to know where they were in the ship. “I was right. We made it up two floors so we must be on the floor we came in on. We can go up or down from here, or try another hallway.”
“Up,” Tom said.
&nb
sp; The walls of the upper level weren’t the monotonous green of the lower ones. “This must be the crew’s living quarters floor,” Tom marveled. “See all the decoration?”
Multicolored patterns adorned the walls and display cases lined the circular hub. They were in awe of the bizarre items under the glass lids. Although the objects were foreign, some felt like they belonged to Earth. Others gave the distinct feeling of being from someplace vastly distant.
“Where are the lizardmen?” Winston asked. “Why aren’t they attacking?”
“I don’t think they were prepared for their food to bite back,” Tom replied grimly.
Slowly they explored the circular room, examining the contents in each case. They discovered one case that held crystals and skulls from unnamable animals. "This looks like a museum,” Emmett said.
“I’m not so sure about that, Emmett, Tom suggested “These are displayed more like trophies to me.”
“Any one of these pieces would make us rich,” Emmett said.
“Money? You’re thinking of money?”
“I’m planning for when we get back to Earth. We definitely need to take the ship.”
Following the hallway, they came to an open door. Strange smells emanated from within.
“Ready?” Tom nodded and burst into the room.
The room was large, empty, and brightly lit. The trio paused. Three man-sized emerald green and black saucers with ornate carvings around the rims were positioned around the sides of the room. Each had an arch over its center, containing a ring slightly bigger than a human head equipped with screw-pin clamps. Each saucer contained a large mallet, and was surrounded by gold-embroidered mats covered with reddish-brown specks.
Tom was drawn to a tapestry hanging from the far wall, like something from an old folks’ home. Teddy bears, deer, and ducks woven into it from scraps of kids’ pajamas, couch covers, and quilts. He couldn’t understand why the lizardmen would have such a decoration.
Clanking and whispering came from behind the tapestry, and they jumped back expecting aliens to jump out and fight. Tom raised his weapon and signaled Winston to guard the door. Motioning Emmett to stay close to him, he crept toward forward to see what was behind it. Nearing the tapestry, he could make out heavy breathing and hushed sobbing.