Sequence (7 page)

Retreat and Adapt

Admiral Chaybo screamed, “What the hell happened? I thought we had them dead to rights.”

His second in command was still nursing a bruise and a wicked gash he’d received during the attack. He said, “We were doing well until that turret started firing.”

“We’ve seen that turret in action before, but never like that. How can we hope to destroy them when they’re so well defended?”

“We can’t stop, Admiral. We must destroy them.”

“
We have just these two ships at our disposal now. We’ll regroup, gather some reinforcements, and figure out a bigger and better plan of attack. We’re lucky to even be alive.”

Job Offer

Chris’
vision changed again and he saw the command station spinning around rapidly. The spinning slowed after a few seconds and finally stopped. He stood from the half-egg seat. He wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but he had no breath, or lungs to expel it.

Samda grinned at him and said, “You’re a natural.”

The captain added, “Even Number Three didn’t have the reflexes you have. I’m sorry I underestimated you. You saved our butts when I thought all hope was lost.”

Chris
laughed and said, “I’ve never killed an alien before, but it was us or them, right?”

The captain nodded.

“It felt so easy.”

The captain said, “I think I’d like to offer you a job, if you’re open to the idea.”

“If it means I don’t have to go into stasis, then I’m in.”

Samda chimed in, “I won’t be going back into stasis either. You bastards can try to force me
, but I guarantee I’ll put up a bigger fight than before.”

The captain took a
menacing step towards her, but Chris said, “Let’s make that another condition of me accepting your job offer. Samda gets to stay here.”

The captain stopped just as Samda raised her meaty fist.

He shrugged and said, “The mission was going perfectly until I picked you two up. I accept your conditions, Earth-man, if only to get past this and get back to work. When we’re all done, you’ll be transferred back to your body and you’ll both have to supply a genetic sample. Do you both understand me?”

“Of course,”
Chris said, as Samda nodded and smiled at him devilishly.

An odd thought crossed
Chris’ mind. For the first time he wondered what she looked like naked. Then again, whatever was hidden beneath her clothing would probably shock and frighten him, so maybe it was better left to his imagination.

An image of his girlfriend back home popped in
to his mind’s eye. Megan would be pissed if she knew how easily he’d gotten over her. But the knowledge that he’d probably never see her again convinced him not to dwell on her. Plus, she was a cheater that didn’t deserve his faithfulness. But a huge alien was hardly a replacement for a mate from his own race, even if said mate was an unfaithful bitch.

Then he wondered how long he’d been gone from Earth. It was impossible to know. But he was certain that it was long enough for Megan to have moved on.

So why shouldn’t he?

He looked Samda in the eyes. She was beautiful
, but even though she was perfectly proportionate, she was still twice his human size. In the mechanized unit, though, they were equals in stature.

She saw him looking her over and shook her head. She moved closer and whispered, “You’re not my type. In fact, you’re not even the same species.”

When he looked at her face she was smiling coyly.

“You can’t stop me from fantasizing,” he said, emboldened. The suit was
apparently making him arrogant.

She smirked. “I guess not. But don’t go thinking that because you’re wearing that robotic suit
now, you can overpower me.”

He shook his head. The notion appalled him. He wasn’t even sure if the robot suit had a dick. “That’s not how my species does things, usually. We need mutual agreement.”

“Good. Because I don’t agree.”

“Ok
ay then.” The conversation had gone from playful to weird and Chris didn’t like it.

The captain said to them, “Stop flirting and get ready to make some repairs.”

Samda moved back against the wall and stared at her feet.

The captain
sidled over to her and whispered conspiratorially, “If you wanted to, I could convert his DNA to something viable and create a sort of hybrid creature in a lab that’s a perfect mix of both of your races. Your two species are very similar so it wouldn’t be too difficult. I’d do it after our mission was concluded, of course.”

Samda smirked and was about to say something
, but she held her tongue and nodded her head as though she would think it over later. Her entire species was extinct so maybe this was one last hope at rekindling it, in an odd, diluted way. It was nice to know that there were still some options left to her.

Though w
hen the captain added, “I’ll only do so if you are cooperative during this mission and help us if you’re called upon,” she knew it was a lie to buy her allegiance.

She looked
Chris’ robotic body over and then stared at the floor, deep in thought.

If she
were alone, she’d have wept.

Another Gray

The abducted Gray was scrabbling around in the holding cell, trying to find a way out.

The captain put on his translator helmet and said to the Gray, “You will be given three detox pills to rid your body of contaminants and a translator that is to be placed in your mouth.”

The Gray looked up at the ceiling and said, “I know how this works, you piece of shit. I’ll take the damn pills. Lord knows I need to cleanse my body from all these years in space, eating freeze-dried crap. But I will not implant the translator.”

Chris was surprised he could understand the Gray because it didn’t have a translator yet.

“You will, or you will not be allowed out of that room.”

“Bullshit
, Captain. If you keep me here, where will you transport the new arrivals? We both know you’re bluffing. Remember that I know all about you and your people. You can’t fool me.”

The captain shook his head and said, “Do it or else I’ll forcibly remove large chunks of your DNA and then shoot the rest of you out into space.”

The Gray said, “We both know I can understand what you say and vice versa. You’re wasting my time with this and insulting my intellect.”

The captain
relented and said, “Fine, take the pills and expel your waste. I will send someone down to restrain you shortly and put you into stasis.”

“Is the stasis pod for my kind fixed already? I heard it was damaged enough to allow my friend to escape.”
The Gray said it with barely disguised arrogance, peppered with a hint of pride.

The captain mumbled
to Chris, “Those fuckers know how to communicate better than any other species in the universe. I can’t believe he already knows about that.”

Chris
said, “Is that how they found us so easily?”

“Of course. But who knows how much info that escapee was able to glean before he took off. Who knows how much knowledge he’s already passed along to this one
. We need to be vigilant. This Gray probably knows as much as we do about this ship and this mission.”

The Gray ate his pills and then squatted, staring straight into the camera defiantly.

Anger Issues

When the captain ordered him to go and fetch the Gray, Chris argued with him. “Can’t you knock him out first?”

“Sedatives don’t work on his race. Don’t second
-guess my orders again. Who do you think you are: my first mate?”

The first m
ate chuckled at that, and Chris slumped off down the long corridor to fetch the scariest living creature in the known universe.

The door to the holding cell opened just as he reached it and the Gray stepped
towards him.

It said insultingly, “You cowards with your mechanical bodies make me sick. If you’re going to go traipsing through the universe, at least have the guts to
risk your own skin.”

Chris
said, “I’m not actually one of them. I’m a human being from a planet called Earth.”

“Ah, an Earthling? We’ve scouted your planet. I’m a little surprised you were selected to become a part of their little experiment. The last I heard
, you didn’t measure up.”

Chris
was upset for the hundredth time. These fricking aliens all had superiority complexes.

T
o wound the Gray, angrily he said, “Well this unworthy Earthling just destroyed your ship and several others.”

The Gray stared hard into his single robotic eye. It said, “Your mech no doubt did most of the work.”

“That’s not what I’ve been told. I’m told that I took to it like a duck to water.” He had no idea if the analogy would translate, but it apparently had because the Gray said, “Your people are a bunch of maniacal, homicidal barbarians. I’m not surprised you excelled at murder.”

Chris
grabbed the Gray by its scrawny neck and said, “I was only told to do the job. I chose to enjoy the work all by myself.”

The Gray struggled so
Chris squeezed tighter and dragged his spindly body along the corridor as they were bombarded by all the normal cleansing agents.

Once inside the command station, the captain
yelled at him. “Let it go and get your anger under control, Earth-man.”

Chris
let Gray’s neck go and he felt its body fall at his feet.

The captain said, “If I wanted it dead I would’ve just killed it myself.”

Chris looked down and saw that the Gray was laying there, lifeless. He panicked because he didn’t know he possessed cruelty like that. Killing was becoming second nature to him. What did that say about him? What did it say about the alien mech he was inside? Was it designed to make him a murderer or was he supplying that part of the psyche?

He felt a surge of relief when the Gray began to twitch back to life.
He hadn’t meant to lose control like that, despite the fact that the Gray probably deserved no less.

The Gray was hefted to its feet by the captain.

Chris said, “I’m very sorry I overreacted like that. I’m not sure what got into me.”

The Gray smiled sadistically and said, “It’s not your fault. You’re becoming more and more like them.” It pointed a long finger at Number Four
and then at the captain. “Your mech was designed by them. They are crazy sick bastards, so the mech has that twisted element infused within it. The longer you stay in there, the more you’ll lose of yourself.”

Now the captain grabbed the Gray by the throat. “You’ve said enough and caused enough damage already without spreading lies about my people. We are creators and you are destroyers. How dare you judge us?”

The Gray tried to rebut but the captain carried it from the command station before it could.

Number Four ran after them,
shouting at the captain, “The first mate’s almost done fixing his stasis pod. I’ll help you watch over him until it’s operational.”

Attitude

Chris
shook his head in confusion. Where had all that aggression come from? Was it always within him, dormant? Was it only unleashed because he was free of his body? Or was the Gray right? Was the mech feeding his anger, even creating it?

For the first time, he realized he wasn’t alone in the room. Samda was scrutinizing him closely.

She said, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. That Gray is a killer. And he insulted me.”

“I insulted you earlier. Are you going to try and squeeze the life out of me too?”

“Oh, come on
, Samda. Those people killed off your entire race. Why are you defending them now?”

“I’m not. I just don’t like to see aggression like that. It scares me.”

Chris suppressed a smile which was stupid, because he wasn’t even sure if his mech could smile. He was amused because Samda was built like a tank. It was surprising to hear that anything made her nervous. It was eerily emboldening to hear that his actions had scared her. He felt encouraged. Maybe these aliens would be forced to see that he had worth beyond just his DNA.

Then he rethought that stance. It went against his
simple nature to feel so invigorated by his own strength. He was generally a peaceful man by nature.

Again, he worried that some of the suit
’s previous occupant’s thoughts or essence were intermingling with his own, skewing his judgment.

No More Mr. Nice Guy

All three members of the original flight crew returned before things could get too awkward between Samda and
Chris.

The captain said to
Chris, “As much as I like having you in that suit, I don’t think it’s good for your mental health. You nearly strangled that Gray to death.”

Chris
pointed at Number Four and said, “That asshole didn’t scrub the unit before he put my mind into it. If I’m going crazy it’s his fault.”

Number Four explained to the captain, “We were out of time. I had no choice.”

The captain looked at the floor. “So you’re telling me there’s a chance the suit was contaminated when you transferred the Earth-man to it? You know how dangerous that can be. He might go insane and kill us all. He might jeopardize the mission.”

“I’ll transfer him back rig
ht away, sir. Come with me, Earthman.”

“Go fuck yourself. I’m here to stay. If I go back into my meat I’ll be at your mercy once again. In here you can’t force me to go into stasis.”

Samda added, “You’ll just have to put someone else into the suit if you come across another fleet of Grays. Why not just let him stay? It’s the safe bet.”

The captain relented. To
Chris he said, “You’ll be scrutinized closely from now on to make sure you’re not losing your mind. The second I think you’re lost, I’ll forcibly evacuate your consciousness from that unit. I hope you understand my meaning. Your mind will simply evaporate if I set it free without giving it a vessel to fill.”

Chris
shuddered but he had no intention of letting the captain rattle him or change his mind. As a human being, they treated him like a punk, but as a physical equal, they treated him with far more respect. And if things went to hell, he was better equipped to defend himself as a humungous robot.

He had quickly gone from being an annoying pest to being someone they had to worry about.

Plus, he liked being able to look Samda in the eye as he flirted with her.

As a
human being, he’d have to crane his neck to do that. And if she didn’t like his banter she could just step on him like a bug while he was inside his own small human flesh. No, he liked everything better this way.

It had been a pleasant surprise
too, when his hunger pangs had vanished the moment he’d taken over the mechanized unit. He could only imagine how starving Samda was right now.

As though she’d read his mind, she asked the captain, “I don’t suppose you have anything to eat on this ship?”