Escape to Earth 1: Running From Fate (2 page)

• • •

He didn’t open his eyes but took inventory of how he felt. The previous pain was gone except for a small pain in his head. He opened his eyes and saw the escape pod was moving through normal space. He saw a red colored planet passing by on the right and he rubbed his temples. “Where are we?”

“I’m moving into the primitive Planet’s planetary system as we speak. I’m going to go straight toward the planet and shut off the thrusters three hundred thousand miles out.”

“How long have I been unconscious?”

“Seven weeks. It’s taken that long for the medical system to repair your spinal cord.”

He looked at the display as he moved his legs, “May I assume your experiment worked?”

“We made it here without leaving a skip trace. That doesn’t mean they won’t come here looking for you.”

“Why is that?”

“Because my skip trace ended abruptly. They’ll be forced to search from that point and this planet is one they might check out when everything else fails. It at least buys us some time to get you hidden away. I think the Trackers will exhaust every other possibility before they go to the expense of hiring Stalkers to search a primitive planet.”

“Do you think the locals will be able to see you on that planet?”

“Their military is pretty good but they use the ancient reflected energy system to track moving objects. My field will prevent them from tracking us.”

“What about visual?”

“They have a satellite system around the planet but I’ll be entering the atmosphere on the dark side of the planet. I’ve changed my color from green to black; they won’t see me.”

“I’m going to start absorbing their cultural norms. Let me know when we’re at the planet.”

“You have about four days. I’d pay close attention as to how the different sexes act around each other if I were you. This civilization seems to be fixated on mating rituals and attracting each other. It’s all confusing to me but most of their electronic broadcasts seem to be filled with the attraction and social behaviors accepted between the males and females.”

“I’ve seen that. It really doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Maybe it will after you observe them in person.”

“You’re saying I should go out and blend in with their population.”

“You’ll have to be careful until you figure out appropriate behaviors; however, that is going to be the only way to hide from the Sentinel and Stalkers.”

He nodded and closed his eyes. The really crazy signals he saw were the things called commercials. What is a maxi pad? He sent a query to the pod’s computer and received a long lesson in human anatomy. At the end he said, “This is gross stuff.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I just did.”

“Cute. I’ll be looking for an identity for you.”

“How are you going to hide?”

“I’m working on it.”

“You don’t have much time.”

“Thank you Mr. Obvious. I’m researching the machines this civilization uses for mobility. They’re called automobiles. I need to find one that matches up with my basic lines. My major systems need to fit inside the exterior and so far I’ve not found one that would allow the shape change.”

“I’ve noticed a source of books called Amazon. I’m going to download a few thousand of them and see if I can detect any patterns in their behaviors.”

“That’s a good idea. You can do that before we arrive.”

• • •

He looked at the…genres…and decided that he would read the top fifty bestsellers in Romance, Science, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Psychology, History, and Politics first. An hour later he opened his eyes and said, “These people actually attack and kill each other.”

“I was hoping you wouldn’t notice that. They do it individually and in an organized, well planned thing they call a war.”

“Will I be safe here?”

“With your strength and speed, you should be able to either run away or kick the ever living crap out of anyone that attacks you. Your new body is human but your nervous system, strength, and control of it is far beyond what the locals possess.”

“Ever living crap?”

“Look it up; I kinda like that description. Refer back to human anatomy to really understand it.”

“Now you’re being gross.”

“You must learn their idiomatic phrases. I’ve prepared a download of most of them; you should focus on them next.”

“What if someone uses, what’s it called…a gun on me.”

“Take it from him and shove it up their…”

“Hey, hey; that’s enough of that.”

“Sorry, I really like this language. You can express things that our language doesn’t allow.”

“That’s because we’re civilized.”

“If you say so.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I think you can have a huge amount of fun here. At least until the Stalkers find you and suck your intellect into a tube.”

“Cute…very cute. I’ll curtail my fun and try to not be noticeable.”

“That’s what I like hearing. The download of phrases begins now.”

He leaned back and closed his eyes. After a few moments he started smiling. The Pod was right. Some of these were incredibly funny. Horney as a three-horned billy goat had him laughing out loud until he looked it up. He immediately stopped and said, “Gross.” Then he thought about it and started laughing again.

The pod watched his occupant and worried that he would be found. Learning how to hide in this complex society was going to be incredibly difficult. There was also the problem that his brain waves could be seen if a Stalker came within a half mile of his location. Oh well, you can only do what you can. He also had to unlearn the warrior behaviors he had used his entire life.

• • •

The planet was getting larger in the display and he said, “How are you going to do this?”

“I’m headed straight toward that huge city on the east side of the continent.”

He thought for a moment and said, “New York.”

“Yes, New York. If I’m trailing any high energy particles, they should be removed over that city as we enter the lower atmosphere and move away.”

“Where are you going?”

“There’s another large city north of that city called Boston. That is where you are going to hide.”

“Why did you choose that city?”

“They have a technological school there called MIT that does studies on high power lasers. I’m hoping the particles from those studies will block any emissions from my reactor.”

“What’s the possibility of that happening?”

“I’m shutting down the reactor to my lowest possible level. If that doesn’t work…oh well.”

“It will probably work with the Stalkers but the Sentinel will see it.”

“Well, he’s not here yet, so maybe it will buy us some time. That’s what this is all about; extending your life as long as possible.”

Chapter Two

The escape pod entered Earth’s atmosphere over the east coast of the United States and started a shallow glide toward the brightly glowing lights near the Atlantic Ocean. It flexed its sides and changed into a thin, wide wing once its thrusters got it into the lower atmosphere where the air could be used to glide. He sat in the chair and watched the views being provided by the pod’s scanners. “What are you looking for?”

“I need a form I can change into that will hold most of my major units. It needs to be wide enough to house the disrupters and the reactor. Most of the machines I’ve scanned are tall enough but lack the proper width. Wait a minute.”

He suddenly saw a sleek machine appear on the display, “What is that?”

“It’s called a Corvette. There are numerous models of this machine and it appears the newest model is wide enough to barely house the disrupters. Give me a moment.”

He sat and watched a pattern of squares cover the car on the display and the pod said, “I think I can make it work. It’s going to be about two inches wider than the normal model in the middle but I don’t think the locals will notice it. I’m going to convert my shape to it once we land on the surface.”

“That city is rather large.”

“That’s not the one I’ve chosen.”

“Why?”

“That’s the first place a Stalker Team will look. They’ll assume you’ll try to hide in the largest city. We’re headed to the city to the northeast. You can see the lights next to the ocean.”

“That’s where they’re studying lasers.”

“It is.”

“You don’t think that will attract them?”

“It probably will but we need the cover.”

“How am I going to blend in with the locals?”

“I’m completing your DNA change now. You will appear to be exactly like them. The major issue is going to be hiding your brain’s energy pattern.”

“Isn’t my brain going to be exactly like theirs?”

“Structurally, it will be an exact duplicate however, I can’t reduce your ability to use eighty percent of its computing ability. That energy will stand out if you’re scanned.”

“How are we going to hide it?”

“I’m not sure. We’re going to have to find one of their very old buildings for you to live in. Most of them have asbestos in the roof and walls.”

“Asbestos?!”

“I know, that’s insane isn’t it.”

“Who in their right mind would ever use that to build anything?”

“They don’t anymore; but many of the very old houses still have it in the structure. Now be quiet for a few minutes while I do some scanning of their databases and buildings.”

He watched the city called New York pass below and he was amazed at what he saw. The giant skyscrapers reaching for the sky and the hundreds of thousands of people out on the sidewalks made him shake his head. As the pod glided away he said, “This species is nothing like those in the fellowship.”

“What do you mean?”

“Every fellowship planet does three things; produce food to feed everyone, manufacture clothing, and build weapons of war. This species is focused on so much more than that. The fashion industry alone is…I don’t have the term to describe it.”

“Outrageous?”

“That’s it.”

“You’ve never gone in with a fleet and took possession of a primitive planet, have you.”

“No, that happens rarely. My ship wasn’t assigned to the last invasion.”

“Well, this planet will look like all the other Fellowship planets within ten years after it’s invaded. The survivors of the invasion will be enslaved and ultimately, their children will adapt to being part of a Fellowship Civilization and become part of the military.”

He looked down at the huge city’s bright lights and shook his head. “That saddens me for some reason. This city is so…”

“Beautiful?”

“I think that’s the term although I’ve never used that concept before. I’m not sure I understand it.”

“Nothing in your life approximates the term. Perhaps you’ll understand it later.” The small pod flew away from New York and he saw the glow to the northeast grow larger until they were directly above it. It was just as magnificent as the previous city, though there weren’t as many beings walking the city streets. The pod circled the city for two hours and then it began moving lower in the atmosphere. “I think I’ve found a place for you to stay.”

“How did you do that?”

“Most of the buildings that have spaces to rent have a sign in front of them that says, ‘occupancy’ or ‘apartment for rent’.”

“What is rent?”

“Look in your mind. You should be able to find it.”

He thought about the word and after a moment nodded, “Ahh, it’s a place you give their currency to the owner to live in their building.” He thought for a moment about the currency and said, “Just how am I going to get some of their currency?”

“I’ve been scanning their broadcasts and it appears there are numerous places that use the currency to purchase gold.”

“Get out of here!”

“No, I’m serious. It appears that metal is rare and is highly valued. They use it to make ornamental objects, mostly for their females. I will convert some of their soil into gold and you can take it to one of the establishments that purchase it. You can use it to pay for a place to stay.”

“Doesn’t it have to be an ornament of some kind?”

“I’ve just scanned one of the places that purchases it and one of the ornaments is called a bracelet made of gold links. I’ll convert the soil and mold it into an eleven-inch linked, bracelet.”

“Bracelet?”

“They wear it on their wrists; I don’t know how they came up with the term. One of the broadcasts called Fox Business says that an ounce of gold is worth nine hundred dollars.”

“Give me a minute.” He focused on the information given him by the pod about currency and after a moment shook his head, “That’s a lot of currency.”

“Call it money; they do.”

“Whatever you call it, that’s a lot of it.”

“I’ve found a place that meets our needs close to the center of the city and the school where they conduct laser experiments. I’m going down to the surface to find a place for me to land. I’ll convert to the machine…car so I won’t be noticed.”

“What then?”

“You’ll go out and find something to put into my converter. We’ll then wait until daylight arrives and I’ll listen in on one of the…they call them pawn shops, to see how the trade is made for gold. Once you understand that process, you’ll walk to the place and make the exchange.”

The pod spiraled down and landed in a small parking lot behind a three-story building. There were four other cars parked and he said, “What are those numbers and letters on the back of them?”

“It’s called a license plate. I’ll make one once I land. I also need to make a driver’s license for you and a parking sticker for me.”

He thought for a moment and said, “How are you going to do that?”

“I’m scanning their department of motor vehicle computers. Give me a few minutes.” He waited and the images flashing on the display were moving too fast for his new eyes to follow. Thirty minutes later, “I’ve found a being that was killed in a car accident in that huge city we flew over coming here. I’m going to use his license and license plate. If someone reports his death to the motor vehicle place, I’ll find you another. I don’t think it’s going to be reported.”

“Oh, why not?”

“He’s a recent arrival from another country. He doesn’t have family in his home nation so no one should be attempting to contact him. At least his application to the school says he has no family. He was killed in a car accident and was burned beyond recognition. They buried him as a John Doe.”