Sequence (13 page)

Always a Catch

Chris, Samda and the alien mechs all stood outside and waited for the orbiting ships to land.

The first m
ate hurried over to the captain and said, “I just got done speaking to our cousins. The Grays don’t trust us yet. They think it’s a trap. They said we can meet them though, on their terms. I already uploaded the coordinates they gave me into the ships. Oh, they also said to disable our weapons before we arrive.”

“Forget that. If they can’t trust us
, then we shouldn’t trust them. Leave the weapons the way they are.”

The first mate shook his head sadly. “Trust issues are part of what got us into this mess.”

“You’re right, but I don’t care. I’m not going to meet with our sworn enemy unarmed. That’s just stupid.”

“With an attitude like that, we might never see home again.”

“We’ll be fine.”

Samda pointed up at the sky as the first ship broke the cloud cover. Drones approached it
, but within seconds they flew off when they received the expected signal from the transponders.

Several more ships descended and were met with the same curious drones.

They landed inside the octagonal courtyard and their doors opened up.

Number Four walked over to
Chris and said, “I’ve programmed the collector ship with a bunch of useful info. It’ll take you to Earth, but I also gave you access to its other arrival coordinates just in case you want to go off on an adventure of your own. The ship will do exactly what it is ordered to do now.”

Chris
said, “Thanks, but I just want to get back home.”

“I doubt your people will respond well when you show up looking like a monstrous robot. I thought I’d give you some options in case you find your people to be less than hospitable.”

“Thank you, Number Four.”

The first m
ate came to them and said to Chris, “I made a mistake when I spoke to the Grays. They agreed to meet with us, but they insisted we bring them the collector ship. I explained to them that it was impossible because we’d given it to you so you could return to Earth, that the captain had insisted on it. I should have kept my mouth shut. I’m worried that if we can’t make peace with them, they’ll come to Earth to retrieve your ship.”

“If they want it
, they can have it. I’m going to use it to get home, and then I’ll just let it float away into space.”

“If they don’t find it, they’ll torture and kill your people for information.”

“But no other Earthling knows where the ship is besides me.”

“That won’t stop them.”

“Your people are truly evil. You should be ashamed.”

“They’re not evil
, they’re fearful. They destroyed planets to try and eliminate the specimens we needed for our experiment, to no avail of course. But they only did it to stop the sadistic pseudo-god from conducting her evil experiment. They’ll capture the ship to ensure that advanced technology created by pure evil doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. Their methods are cruel, but their intentions are pure.”

“Whatever
, man. I guess I can only hope you can make peace with them. Once again, my life is in your hands.”

“I’ll do my best, but be on the lookout.”

Chris shook his head. If he thought this was going to end well, he was probably wrong. Then again, if he stayed with the ship, he had a real chance of fighting off any Gray invaders. Suddenly he realized that, once again, the mech suit was confusing his thoughts. There was a much simpler solution than putting up a fight, but the suit demanded satisfaction. It thrilled to be put back inside that turret and be set loose to shoot and destroy. He consciously fought the impulses of the suit.

He said to the first mate, “If I stay with the ship
, I can just hand it over to them and avoid annihilation.”

“I was hoping you’d come to that conclusion on your own.”

“How long before I know if they’re coming my way?”

“You’ll know immediately
, but I’d give it a few days before abandoning it, just to be sure.”

Chris
was glad to hear that part. He was afraid the first mate would tell him to be on the lookout for months or years for the Grays. Then again, the Grays didn’t seem like the type to procrastinate or dilly-dally when they knew what they wanted.

Several mechs wheeled out a
spherical device from one of the ships and deposited it in the hangar.

Chris
said, “What’s that for?”

Number Four said sadly, “It’s an EMP
device. It’s for those who are staying behind. They wanted to be put out of their misery and that’s the kindest way to do it. It’ll turn off their consciousness like a light.”

“That’s a shame,” Samda said.

“It sure is. Come on, I’ll walk you to your ship.”

Homeward

Chris
had mixed emotions when he said goodbye to the crew that had brought him this far. Sure, they’d kidnapped him, imprisoned him, belittled him, forced him into a mech and put his body into stasis, all against his wishes, but they had done it all to appease a godlike being that was holding their people hostage.

Plus
, if it wasn’t for them choosing him, he’d still be stuck on Earth with a bitch girlfriend and a pointless existence.

He certainly wouldn’t have done anything nearly as important as save the universe or meet alien life forms if he hadn’t been mistakenly chosen for this.

For the first time, he wondered if it was even worthwhile going back home. Megan had hated him before. She’d definitely have a hard time coming to terms with his new body.

He decided that he was done with Megan. He’d seen too much lately to settle for mediocrity any longer.

He had been on an adventure of a lifetime, albeit reluctantly, and he cringed to imagine how monotonous life with Megan would turn out when he returned.

He waved goodbye to Number Four as Samda closed the loading hatch. Then he followed her along the labyrinthine corridors of the ship until they were in the command station.

She took the controls, and she learned quickly, with a little help from the default commands inside her mech.

When she was confident that she knew what she was doing, she
commanded the ship to take them to Earth.

It lifted off silently.

The octagonal structure got smaller and then disappeared as they broke through the blankets of clouds. The drones buzzed them but quickly flew off.

As soon as they were past the atmosphere, the ship instantaneously whisked them to Earth’s orbit.

Earth Orbit

Chris
said, “We’ll hang out here for a couple of days in case the Grays come after the ship. If they do, I’ll give it up peacefully and then we’ll go landside. If they don’t show up in two days, chances are they won’t come, and then we’ll be able to go down to Earth without any worries.”

Samda smiled and said, “I know th
at. I heard you talking to the first mate.”

Chris
had an epiphany. “I have a couple of friends who would shit their pants if I brought them to this ship. Would you mind if I brought them up?”

Samda seemed nervous. “Will they be afraid of me?”

“Of course they will, but they’ll be just as afraid of me. We’re both behemoth robots from space.”

Samda smiled. “I keep forgetting that I’m not me anymore
, that I’m inside a mechanical vessel.”

“It’s tough, but we just have to get used to
these bodies.”

“Bring your friends aboard then. I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces.”

“Me too,” he said. Then he realized he had no way to find them. But Samda was getting used to the ship’s controls faster than he was. She could help. “When they took me, I was with two people. Their names are Dave Rodriguez and Jackie Gibson. Can you see if the ship has a log of that and use it to find them? Then beam them up here.”

Samda
got to work figuring out how to do that. When she was done, she changed the view on the monitor. It showed the holding cell with two humans inside. It was Chris’ friends, and they were terrified.

Robot Captain
Chris

Chris put on the football helmet headset because he just couldn’t be sure they’d understand him with his new voice that issued from his new body.

He said, “Welcome to space
, Earthlings. This is your captain. My name is Chris Mathers.”

Jackie
looked around, wild-eyed, and said to Dave, “Did I just hear that right?”

Chris
answered for him. “Yes you did. I’m going to open the door. Walk down the corridor and I’ll meet you when you come to the end.”

Samda opened the door for them remotely and they did as
Chris had requested.

When
Chris opened the door to the command center, Dave squealed like a teenage girl and Jackie leapt backwards.

Chris
said, “I might have forgotten to tell you that I’m an awesome robot these days.”

Dave said sheepishly, “Is that really you in there
, Chris?”

“Yep. A lot has happened since I was abducted. My real body got killed.”

Chris waved at Samda and said to Dave and Jackie, “That’s Samda. She’s an alien, but the same thing happened to her. She died. We’re both stuck like this.”

Jackie
reached a hand out to touch Chris. “You’ve only been gone for four days, Chris. I can’t believe so much has happened in such little time. That is the coolest thing ever. How did you get so lucky?”

Samda came over and said, “We are all lucky that
Chris was taken. He saved the universe.”

Dave laughed
, until Samda took a menacing step forward.

Chris
shrugged. “It’s true.”

Jackie
shook her head. “Chris Mathers doesn’t have it in him to save the universe. Chris Mathers doesn’t even have the guts to break up with his bitch of a girlfriend.”

“Does she miss me?”
Chris asked. “Is she alright?” He kept his gaze from crossing Samda’s. He wasn’t sure why.

Dave replied, “She moved some strange dude in just a couple of days after you disappeared. I’m afraid that ship has sailed
, buddy.”

“Good. Enough about her then.
” He was overjoyed he didn’t need to deal with that crap any more. “Do you want a tour of the ship?”

Jackie
rocked on her heels. “Lead the way, robot Chris. Tell us the whole story as we walk.”

Hope

As they walked, Chris and Samda filled them in on everything that had happened. To their credit Dave and Jackie took it all in stride. They were particularly excited to hear that the ship was now equipped to travel anywhere in the universe for them. The tales of past adventures enthralled them, but the possibility of an adventure to come sent their imaginations skyward.

Then
Chris explained that they couldn’t return to Earth for a day or two, to make sure that if the Grays came for the ship, they could hand it over peacefully to avoid any unnecessary violence.

At that
Jackie said, “You can’t come to Earth looking like that anyway. Do you think we can just put a wig and a fake beard on you and you’ll blend right in? They’ll take you away to some underground lab and take you apart.”

“I can’t live out here in space for eternity.”

Dave asked, “Those mechanized suits can store your consciousness for eternity? How cool is that?”

“You wouldn’t say that if you were in my place.”

“How did you have your mind transferred into that thing anyway?”

“The transfer room is just up ahead. I’ll show you what they used.”

Chris showed them around the transfer room. He showed them where the mechs were docked during transfer, and where the circular table was and how it was used.

Dave said to
Jackie, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“I sure hope not. I hope you’re not as reckless as I am. You’re supposed to be the sensible one of us.”

“I’m thinking we could swap.”

“Me too. We could let
Chris and Samda take our bodies and we could take over these robots and go on the adventure of a lifetime.”

Dave stared at
Chris’ crotch area and then looked back at Jackie. “What happens if we decide we want to have sex? We can’t do that in those androgynous bodies.”

Chris
interrupted. “You can’t be serious. I could never ask you to give us your bodies.”

Jackie
said, “Believe me, Chris, I’d consider it a favor. You know what science fiction dorks me and Dave are. You know that we’d do just about anything to travel the stars. You also know that if you hadn’t beaten us to the punch, we would have asked to be abducted when those aliens showed up asking for a volunteer. This is a dream come true.”

Dave shook his head. “
Jackie, did you hear me? How are we supposed to have sex without real bodies?”

“All you think about is sex.” She turned to
Chris and Samda. “If we agree to switch, we would want to be able to come back to our bodies periodically for some creature comforts. Does that sound fair?”

Dave smiled wide now.
Chris looked at Samda and waited to see what she thought.

Samda nodded. “Thank you so much for this new lease on life.”

Dave added, “It is a
lease
. Remember that. We’ll be back every now and again to reclaim our property for a day or two at a time.”

Chris
said, “It’s better than nothing.”

Samda said, “I hope I like life as an Earthling.”

Dave smiled wickedly. “You’re taking the body of this gorgeous woman. You’ll be surprised by how good life can be when you’re beautiful.”

Jackie
shook her head but she couldn’t resist a retaliatory dig. “That’s why Dave’s life is so hard.”