Chapter written by Bob Frank
Adam opened his eyes. He was floating. Before him was the alien, latched onto a ledge, and watching him. He held up a hand in a weak wave. The alien mirrored the gesture. Fascinating. Then it did the beautiful bioluminescent thing, and Adam was intrigued. He waved again. It glowed again, and he realised its pattern was the same. This alien was intelligent, certainly, the door had proved as much, and possibly even curious,as its unwavering stare would suggest. The alien sent a tendril of electric blue flashing down an arm, and he had an idea. Intelligent? That's a bit of a stretch.
He traced the same path on his own arm, and watched. The alien repeated the glow, and once again he copied it. He traced a squiggle on his own arm, and the alien copied the squiggle on its own arm. The alien was copying him, and understood that he was copying it. What fun games you play when you are about to die.
Before he could carry the idea any further, gravity turned back on with a dull grumble of engines, and the pod rotated nearly one hundred and eighty degrees. Adam, and the alien simultaneously fell to the floor, which was a strange feeling, as their new down was in the opposite direction of the planet they had just left. The deceleration was far less than the previous acceleration, and Adam found he was able to rise to his feet. He teetered over to a window, and felt cold with horror.
Above them was a brilliant blue marble, with no sign of the land they had launched from, but below them was a monstrous vessel, its very bulk seeming to infringe upon reality. The alien had forced itself to its feet, and had joined him by the window, its glittering eyes transfixed by the sight. As they approached, more detail became available. The surface was uneven, almost rocky. Further observation revealed the incredible fact that their imminent doom was constructed from an asteroid. The pod continued to slow, until it was drifting not much faster than a vehicle back on earth cruising through town on a Saturday evening.
The engines cut out, and for a moment the silence was deafening, before a collision that rattled the entire pod. There was a neat snick of precision engined latches attaching the little craft to its mothership, and a hiss of atmosphere equalization. Weight came back once more, and this time it stayed. The hatch in the pod slid open, and a deluge of white foam poured in before almost instantly evaporating. The smell made Adam feel dizzy, but it was gone in a moment.
Both the alien and Adam peered through the hatch, taking in their surroundings. Adam felt a tinge of fear, and his heart started to race. What were they to do? This group wanted them dead, but there was no way to escape.
The alien was looking at him, and it lit up, before reaching out a hand, and pulling him toward the hatch. There was a brief moment where Adam once again had the urge to fight, but he realized that they were both effectively prisoners, and there was nothing to lose, so he followed. They entered a small room filled with weaponry and technology, with a reinforced door opposite them. The alien checked its person for something, but quickly diverted its attention to the racks lining the walls.
Apparently it was satisfied with its discovery, and it pulled an elaborate handgun from the wall, unplugging its cable, and clipping it onto its ‘pants’. Once again the alien looked at him, and its skin flashed, but this time Adam recognized the pattern. Before the alien could reach out he moved to follow. The alien froze, watching him, before walking to the door. After an uncomfortable moment of fiddling, it slid open. His new acquaintance peeked around the corner, before once again lighting for him to follow. Fine, I can see some of the intelligence.
The overwhelming impression was that of metal, with inset lights vanishing into the distance. Every hundred metres there was another bulky door, and presumably another pod.
Then there was a dull thump, and a hiss. What could that be? He didn’t have to wait long for the answer, as there was the rattle of a hatch opening, and then what can only approximately be described as voices. The alien started to back away, but Adam felt the familiar burning curiosity. He crept to the next door, and peered through.
Soldiers were pouring from the next drop pod, and had started to hang up their weapons with various appendages. One particularly unusually shaped soldier reached for the GA insignia on its uniform, and ripped it off. The volume of chatter grew, and other soldiers started to rip off the insignia, and throw them into a corner. Adam caught a glimpse of another symbol, but before he could get a good look he made eye contact with the soldier, and he ducked away from the hatch.
Surprisingly, his acquaintance was still waiting, poised to run, but watching him. They took off running, and as they did there was another thump, and another hiss. It became apparent quickly that the corridor they were running through would shortly be swarmed with returning soldiers. He looked over his shoulder, and saw a door begin to slide open, but before any soldiers emerged he felt a sharp tug on his arm, and was swung out of the corridor into another, smaller hallway.
He staggered down the hall, trying to regain his balance and follow the figure in front of him. He hit his stride, and caught up. They came upon another corridor, and the alien dived into it, and away from the hall. Adam followed suit. The alien unclipped the stolen handgun and focused it down the hallway, waiting.
The first soldier to round the corner and enter the hall took a glowing blue slug to the gut, spasming before crumpling to the floor. The alien managed to get off four more shots before the gun beeped, and died. It dropped the gun in disgust. You didn't think they would have remote shut-off? Genius.
Back to running then. Behind them Adam caught a glimpse of an alien soldier reaching for the dropped gun. Even with the weaker gravity Adam was getting tired, and more importantly there were fewer and fewer directions to go as the soldiers slowly and methodically cut off their exits.
They rounded a corner, and came face to face with well over twenty soldiers, and Adam’s heart nearly stopped. One soldier raised the same type of firearm Adam had observed during the attack. Time seemed to slow. He felt his heart pound, he couldn’t die, not so soon. There was so much to learn and do! He watched in a haze as the soldier centered the weapon on his torso, but before a shot was fired a different soldier screamed at the first, and gestured at the weapon. The language was completely alien, but the message was clear, “don't use that”. The offending soldier reached for a different, smaller gun, and Adam wanted to run. There was no time, however, as the soldier aimed the gun at his chest, and fired.
Adam felt a stabbing pain, and reached in a daze for his chest. His hand found an object embedded in his skin. Out came the object, which upon inspection appeared to be a dart. His head suddenly cleared and he felt a burst of manic energy. Another pop, and another dart, and Adam stopped thinking. He attacked the soldiers with the type of energy only granted by methylxanthine stimulants. His fist swung into the grotesque body, and to his surprise he felt a sickening snap.
He felt another dart embed itself in his arm, his heart was pounding and throbbing in his chest like a caged animal. He swung to the soldier that fired it. Another punch thrown, and another. The soldiers were melting before the sheer fury of his drugged adrenaline craze. He felt a surge of hope, he could escape!
Remember the electrical handgun?
He turned just in time to see a soldier raising the stolen handgun, before pulling the trigger. His entire world became electric blue static, and a lattice of pain spread through his body. He had never known such agony, every nerve in his body was on fire, white hot pins and needles stabbed into his arms and legs, causing a horrible numbness wherever they penetrated. The shock hit his spine, pulsed his intercostal nerve, and penetrated deep into his brain. The world instantly went dark. I