December Page 5

The doors slid open, revealing a majestic ovular room with gray-colored walls. There was a large rectangular computer console that vaguely resembled a table a short way in front of the door. A helm, with a mind-boggling amount of commands on the touch-screen, sat at the front of the room. Alana ran to it, and even though there was a chair, the female Kolean opted to stand in front of the computer as her soft fingers quickly entered commands.

  Ted moved to the center of the room, unsure what else to do and staring in awe.

  “The engines are ready,” Trell’s voice called across the bridge. He too, chose to stand behind the computer console in the back of the room, despite the presence of a chair.

  Alana turned the engines on, entered a few commands, gripped the steering wheel that was really only two handles attached to a joystick, and shoved it forward. Almost instantaneously, the ship lurched through the closed launch doors. The sudden movement and impact caused Ted to stumble backwards and almost lose his balance. Instinctively, he reached for a chair and sat in it, feeling woefully helpless. He watched his companions cautiously, hoping these aliens who had “kidnapped” him knew what they were doing. Otherwise, his life would be forfeit.

  “Three Drevi vessels have taken off from the nearby base and are in pursuit,” Trell said.

  The anxiety in Ted’s gut rose as he realized he couldn’t see the pursuers and he felt himself begin to panic. There were no windows on the bridge. The ship trembled and shook beneath him, causing his skull to ache with nausea. He found himself thinking, Come on, come on, urging the ship away from their pursuers.

  “We’re clearing the atmosphere now. I’m going to try and outrun them,” Alana said, the tension in her voice making Ted feel even more frantic.

  “Good luck with that,” Trell said. “They were right about one thing. This ship is inferior compared to theirs.”

  Ted felt a pang of sadness and indignation at Trell’s words. He thought the ship was magnificent. It was irrational, of course—he had never even touched the ship until a few moments ago. But already he felt some kind of connection to it—it was just as responsible as Alana and Trell were for spiriting him away from that horrible place. Assuming we get away at all, he thought, an assumption Ted was not yet willing to make. He glanced over to the wall, where a name was inscribed in black, flowery script. The nameplate read December.

  “They’re still pursuing,” Trell called. The ship lurched again as something grazed the hull. Ted was ashamed when a whimper of fear escaped his throat. If the Drevi caught them, he’d be killed for sure.

  “They’re persistent,” Alana said through a clamped-shut beak.

  Trell laughed dryly. “Ha. Nothing in the galaxy is as stubborn as you.”

  “Indeed,” Alana replied, a smile on her face as she used her left hand to add more power to the ship’s engines. The vessel rocketed through space, causing Ted to grasp the armrests tighter as his head slammed back against the headrest. Two more... shots, he guessed, from the Drevi ships rocked them, but Alana had managed to avoid the brunt of the attack. As the December picked up speed, the attacks stopped.

  “They’ve returned to the base,” Trell said. “This thing was able to outrun them.”

  “Lucky for us,” Alana said after a deep breath. She eased up on the engines, and Ted could physically feel the ship slow down.

  Trell relaxed enough to remove his hands from the computer console in front of him, though he kept a keen eye on the readouts. Alana pressed a few buttons, presumably setting the ship on autopilot, before turning to face Ted and Trell.

  “You said you’re... Koleans?” Ted asked, breaking his own silence. The shock had not yet worn off, and part of him was still convinced this was all a dream—that he would wake up and his miserable life under the Drevi would continue. Or worse, that this wasn’t a dream, and they would be recaptured shortly and he would be executed for his escape attempt.

  “Correct,” Trell said. “It was rude of me not to introduce myself, but circumstances prevented it. I am Trell Sirrin. I work for our space program.”

  “And I’m Alana Teinn, of Kolean Intelligence,” the woman said.

  Ted struggled to keep his voice level. “My name is Ted Anderson.”

  “Well, Mr. Anderson...” Trell began, but Ted stopped him.

  “Oh, please call me Ted,” he said, embarrassed.

  Trell nodded in understanding and continued. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions.”

  “That’s an understatement,” Ted said with an awkward laugh.

  “Before everyone starts explaining everything, I need to do something first. Did the Drevi insert a chip into you, Ted?” Alana’s look was serious.

  Ted’s brow furrowed. “Not that I know of. They do that?”

  “Unfortunately, yes. They don’t publicize it because they don’t want anyone who’s been implanted to know they’re being watched or figure out a way to remove it. If you do have one and we leave it in you, they can track you. Better to get rid of the problem now than have it cause problems for us later.”

  It felt like wet eels were slithering around in his stomach as Ted thought about how utterly creepy and wrong that was. Just how many people were having their every move watched? “Then get it out. Please,” he added as an afterthought.

  “I’ve done it before,” she said, trying to reassure him, “so I know what I’m doing. But it’s going to hurt.” She removed a small device with a big removable needle attached to it from her pack and stepped towards him.

  “Can’t the scanners pick it up?” Ted eyed the needle nervously.

  She shook her head. “It doesn’t give off a strong enough power signal. I just need to poke in the right spot. If it’s there, I’ll feel it and start the removal process. If it’s not there, we’re good.” As gently as she could, she pressed the needle into the crevice between his neck and shoulder.

  White pain exploded behind Ted’s eyes and for a minute he lost all sense of thought. The next thing he became aware of was Alana exhaling and throwing the needle away into a waste disposal unit on the wall. “You’re clean.”

  Ted took a few deep breaths, trying to recover. That had hurt, and he was internally singing the Hallelujah chorus that she hadn’t needed to actually remove anything. He was certain he would have passed out.

  “That’s bizarre,” Trell commented. “They always put a tracking implant in their specimens.”

  I guess Dr. Hio really trusted me after all. “So why are you here?” Ted asked as the pain died down. He gave his neck a little rub subconsciously.

  “It’s not as complicated as you might think,” Alana said, her voice strong and bitter. “Ten years ago, the Drevi tried to invade our world as well, but we fought them off.”

  “We’ve always been a peaceful people,” Trell said. “The arts of all kinds are renowned on our world, and we pride ourselves on our scientific and technological advancements. Our technology had evolved to the point where we were capable of long-term space travel.”

  “Then the Drevi came,” Alana continued. “We fought them off, which we did frightening well once angered. It is not easy to make a Kolean angry, but when someone does, we come down on our enemies like falling stars.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Ted said, unnerved by the intensity in the young woman’s eyes. Another question, which had been burning in the back of Ted’s mind since the first Drevi ship landed on Earth, came into his thoughts. “Why do they do it?”

  “The Drevi? Because their Queen is mad,” Alana said. “From what we know, she is obsessed with ‘studying’ alien life forms, and ordered the Drevi military to give their scientists the opportunity, though no one seems to know exactly why. We know they went to a few other planets with lesser-evolved life forms before coming to either of ours. Kolea is closer to Dreve than Earth is, but once we fought them off... There’s a theory that they moved on to Earth when they realized they couldn’t have Kolea. That’s a major reason why we’re here. On some level, I fear we might b
e responsible.”

  Ted took her words in, though he couldn’t bring himself to feel anger. Alana seemed genuine. She had risked her life to do something to remedy the situation, and even if she and Trell weren’t being entirely truthful, it wasn’t the Koleans who had invaded Earth.

  “Exactly when did the Drevi come to Earth?” Trell asked.

  “They made first contact about six months ago,” Ted said, remembering the horrifying day well. “They’ve taken most of the planet under their control by now. Our militaries tried to fight back in their less-advanced ships, but they were overtaken pretty quickly. Citizens tried to fight back in private starships, but most were destroyed and the rest were captured.” He paused, thinking. “Didn’t you two come here on a ship? Isn’t it a bad idea to leave it behind?”

  Trell shifted uncomfortably, clearly upset at the loss of a Kolean spacecraft. He’d said something about working for their space program, so maybe he would get in trouble with his superiors for losing it. Or worse, perhaps there had been valuable information on board that the Kolean authorities, whoever they were, didn’t want falling into Drevi hands. It was Alana who spoke. “It was necessary. It’s not like the Drevi will get any new technology. Their technology is superior to ours and they captured many Kolean ships just like that one in the invasion. The drive on it is not set to record any records or logs, so they won’t have access to flight paths or communications. The way I see it, it was a fair trade for this ship.”

  Ted let the relief show on his face as Trell said, “Alana, can we even run this starship with just the two of us?” He seemed concerned. “This vessel is just as complex as one of our own ships, and a lot bigger. And I doubt Ted knows much about how a starship runs...”

  “We’ll have to make due.” Alana made a gesture that looked like a shrug, even though she only used one shoulder.

  “Where are we going?” Ted asked, suddenly worried of being thrust into the unknown.

  “We’re going to hide in the asteroid belt between your solar system’s fourth and fifth planets,” Trell explained.

  “We’re going to hide in the asteroid belt?” Ted cried in fear. Won’t this ship get torn apart by the rocks?

  “Calm down. We’re going to hide on the other side of it and come up with a plan,” Alana said, exasperated.

  Trell and Alana returned to the controls and after about fifteen minutes of silence save for the hum of the ship’s engines, the December drifted to a complete stop.

  “So, what exactly are you planning to do now?” Ted hated to sound weak and needy, or worse, annoying to the two aliens who had freed him, but he felt it a perfectly legitimate question. He wanted to know where they were taking him.

  “I think we should return to Kolea, but I know Alana will disagree with me,” Trell said, shooting her a look.

  “I don’t like the idea,” Alana admitted, “but the only way we can get the Parliament to approve assistance for Earth is if we can give them hard proof that the humans want it. We will not help you uninvited. The whole reason we came out here in the first place was to bring someone back with us who could make such an official request.”

  Ted absorbed this important information thoroughly. He immediately tried to think of someone the Koleans could go to who had such authority, but he came up empty. “The first thing they did was take out the political centers of the world,” Ted explained, remembering the endless reports of dead political leaders, and even seeing some particular gruesome pictures sent out as propaganda to scare people into cooperating with the invading forces. “I don’t think there’s anyone left you could go to.”

  “Is there any kind of large-scale resistance movement on your world?” Trell asked.

  Ted nodded. “There is, but I don’t know where they might be or how to contact them. And from what I’ve heard there isn’t just one group. There are hundreds, and they may be organized internally, but the individual groups certainly haven’t been working together.”

  “In that case we might not have much of a choice. You’d be as good as anyone.”

  Everything fell dead silent in the wake of Trell’s declaration. “What exactly are you asking me?” Ted inquired, wanting to be absolutely sure he understood. He could feel his heart thundering in his chest.

  “Are you willing to come back to Kolea with us and testify before the Parliament, and then officially ask them for assistance on behalf of your people?” It was Alana who spoke, clearly choosing her words with great care.

  “I... okay,” Ted said, forcing his response out of his mouth before his mind had time to catch up. Some instinct deep inside told him that any hesitation would be disastrous. Here he was being presented with a chance not only for his own freedom, but for all mankind’s. How could he say no?

  Trell moved on to less earth-shattering questions. “How many ships like this one does your planet have, then? There can’t be only two.”

  “There are more. A bunch of older models are in the possession of various governments and people, but they’re practically useless against the Drevi. The December is one of twelve, the most advanced starships we have. They were manufactured only a year or so ago and sold privately to the highest bidders.”

  “Twelve ships?”

  Ted nodded. “I know some of them were destroyed, but I don’t know which ones. All I know is that the December and the November were kept under lock and key in the facility we just left.”

  “We definitely should consider seeing which ships are left and contacting their owners, if they’re still alive,” Trell commented.

  “One step at a time,” Alana said. “We have to get Parliament off its ass first.”

  “Maybe before we make a decision, we should explore the ship and get a feel for how it works,” Trell said. “A ship we barely know how to use won’t help us. I had a hard enough time just getting us here. Your written language is a pain.”

  “Sounds good. Then we should vote on what to do,” Ted said, trying to sound helpful. So far, he felt like a load and wasn’t particularly happy about it.

  “That would be a fair way to decide,” Trell conceded.

  Alana glanced at a layout of the ship displayed on the General Operations table. “We should also check and see if there are any food supplies.”

  “Wait, how long will it take to get to Kolea?” Ted asked, suddenly worried. Dying at the hands of the Drevi might be preferable to starving to death out in the middle of space.

  “It should be about three days with this ship’s engines,” Alana said. “If there’s no food, it’ll be rough, but we can last three days. Water is obviously going to be a bigger problem.”

  “As long as nothing bad happens,” Trell said darkly. “If we run adrift, we’ll starve.”

  “Well there isn’t much we can do about it now,” Alana said. “We’ll just have to persevere.”

  Ted made a mental note to look extra hard for any provisions that might be anywhere on the ship.