SODIUM:5 Assault (2 page)

After a long conversation I then asked to disconnect so that I could make an attempt to call my grandfather and parents. I was told the chances of their survival were low and that normal communications had been disrupted for years. I then asked if there was anything that could be done, anyway that I could find out if they were alive.

Several seconds passed before the comm officer on the other end came back with an attempt. He would try to patch me through to the base in Savannah, but from there it would be hit or miss.

I thanked him for his effort and waited patiently as the next comm officer connected. After some time I was patched through to Pensacola and then routed to Troy, Alabama. I next heard the old familiar sound of a land line ringing in the farmhouse. It went on for seven rings before it was answered. It was Zack's mother.

She immediately went outside and called in my father who raced to the phone. The tears flowed as I began sending texts. I dare not talk as I was fearful of them discovering that my comm had been enabled.

My grandfather had passed away two years since. It had been from natural causes, he had fallen over dead in the tomato patch, going out the way he would have wanted to go. Zack's father had also passed away from illness as there were no more hospitals or doctors anywhere nearby.

My mother was out tending to the animals and was doing well. I then asked about Zack and my father hesitated. In the second food war he had lost most of his right leg, but soldiers were in need and he was soon again on the front lines using a prosthetic to get around.

He was one of only a handful of BGS Marines who were left and had seen many days in battle and had taken many lives. My father was worried as the last time he had seen him, his face was sullen and his eyes had no life in them. Such was the life of a soldier in modern war.

I then told my father of my capture and of how I was still held prisoner on the alien ship. I was in good health, but was still a captive. With all the problems on Earth there were no resources being put in place for a rescue mission, I was likely on my own for the foreseeable future.

He was thrilled that I was alive, but unhappy at the thought of my continued captivity. I told him that such was war and that each of us had to make sacrifices if we wanted things to ever get better. Before I was able to say goodbye a comm tech came on the line and stated that he was sorry, but the connection had been broken. Other, official communications needed the lines.

The news from home was bleak. So many lives lost and so much devastation. A weakened Earth would be easily overwhelmed by a sizable alien force. And from what Hershen had told me we had only dealt with a mining fleet that had minimal assault capability. The Frekkin were far superior.

As I sat in my cell I contemplated what to do next when contacted by Command. My communications had come at a difficult time for Earth, but I was not being ignored. Discussions were in the works and I was to hold my position until such time as further questions could be asked and the proper resources diverted in an attempt to end my dilemma.

I was thankful and had relayed that I would cooperate fully. I laid back on my pad and looked up at the dull gray ceiling. For five long years I had waited for something to happen, some word from Earth. It was a good feeling to once again be known, a good feeling to hear my own language. I was once again a part of a team, of the race of Man, and I liked it.

As I settled back I consumed one of the tainted fish cakes. I then began scheming about what I might do next. I could easily overpower Hershen and the other guards up through level-two, but I had no idea of what trouble I would meet if I moved beyond.

And what of my BGS suit and weapon? Should I risk another venture like the last in an attempt to find them? Would the power cell still have Sodium or could I find the stash of Sodium pellets that I once had in my thigh pocket? These were all risks to be contemplated on another day. I soon slept soundly under the influence of the powerful alien sleeping drug.

The next several days passed without Command responding to my pleas. From my experience with the junior officer I had spoken with, I could only guess they had no real idea of who I was or what I was talking about. The world was in chaos and a prisoner almost five light years away was a low priority.

With those thoughts in mind I had decided to take matters into my own hands. The Kurtz and the Barhoos were an ordered society. Everyone was expected to play by the rules as the alternative to that was instant death. I was not one to play by the rules.

At the earliest opportunity I took the initiative to once again put Hershen to sleep and again explore the ship. Instead of taking the elevators to the higher levels I chose to see what lie in the interior hallways of level-five.

I walked to the innermost hallway and looked for the nearest door. Once found, I commanded Hershen's armband to open it. With a wisp the door opened to a storeroom loaded with containers. My discovery process lasted less than a minute.

I then moved down the hall, checking each door I came to. The third door opened to a room full of Kurtz soldiers laid out in stasis pods. I had to resist the temptation to kill them all, it would have been easy. Even though they were my captors, I was not viewed as a threat, which had left security lax. If the time came for hostilities, the more familiar I became with the ship, the better chance of survival I would have.

I continued on to each room on the innermost hall before coming to a control room with two Barhoo standing at terminals. With the wisp of the door opening they each turned and with their four eyes looked at the naked Human standing in the doorway. I had a moment of panic before they each turned back to their console and continued with their work.

The Barhoo followed orders and they had been given no orders about protecting the ship from the enemy. My instinct was to turn and run, but something in my head told me to go in and investigate. I walked slowly over behind the Barhoo to observe what it was they were working on.

As they each maintained focus on their tasks at hand I looked at their consoles over what I guessed were their shoulders. As I watched patiently it became evident that they were monitoring the Sodium fusion power plant. They continued to work as if I was not there.

Watching the Barhoo work while largely being ignored gave me a confidence that I was not expecting. I reasoned that perhaps I was viewed as being in a higher position and as such they would continue working until instructed otherwise. I decided to put my theory into question.

Using the Kurtz language I ordered the Barhoo on the left to step back from its console. After a short hesitation it took a step back. I then asked it to move over to the corner of the room and stand facing the wall. Again, it did exactly as I instructed. My next command returned it to its workplace to continue with its pre-assigned tasks. It complied.

I stood watching for several minutes before the idea popped into my head that I could ask questions of the Barhoo. The first question was for their names and ranks. The Barhoo on the left was Koorie and was a Baaker, which was third from the top of the seven Barhoo ranks. Only Barhoo with the top three ranks were allowed into the air spaces on the mega-ship. The second Barhoo was named Wallop and was also a Baaker.

The two Baaker performed identical tasks with a monitoring system. It highlighted failures to synchronize to the Kurtz officer of the deck. After two such synchronization failures the Barhoo failing to input the proper commands was executed and a replacement brought in. I then realized that was the execution I had witnessed so many years before as I was floating through the walls when I had first come aboard.

I imagined that humans would not fare well at doing such menial tasks where the consequences of a mistake were so high. We were too easily distracted by our thoughts and dreams to maintain the level of focus needed to watch a monitor for hours on end, each and every day. The Barhoo had no days off, no holidays, no vacation, no sick time. If you were unable to perform your shift you were executed and another Barhoo replaced you.

I asked about their culture and of what they did in their off hours for entertainment to which I received blank stares. They had no concept of entertainment. They were a simple race of workers that followed orders. They awakened from sleep, ate, worked, ate again and then returned to sleep. Work was their entire existence. It was all they knew and all they had ever been taught.

I then began to ask questions about the Kurtz to which they were hesitant to answer at first. The Kurtz followed orders and rules just as the Barhoo, but they would spend their off hours in the bar or entertaining one another in their quarters. The more questions I asked the sorrier I felt for Hershen, Koorie and Wallop. Their lives were nothing more than a miserable existence on a mining ship. They would spend most of their lives, if not their entire lives, working for not much more than sustenance. It was a life I imagined I could not bear.

Wallop then asked if they could return to their monitoring as several events were approaching that would require their full attention. I checked a timer on my audio implant and suddenly realized I had been talking to the Barhoo for over two hours. I had a moment of panic as I thought of Hershen awakening without his prisoner present. I gave the Barhoos a direct order to forget that I had questioned them and to mention it to no one. They each nodded as following orders was what they did.

I turned and left the control room and quickly made my way back to my cell. I let out a sigh of relief when I discovered Hershen was still fast asleep. I sat beside him and shook him vigorously until he awoke. He was soon stumbling back down the hallway to finish out his rounds.

Two more days passed before I received a call back from Command. It was the same junior officer I had spoken with earlier. I was told to hold my position as a new food war had just begun with the remaining armies of Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela combining to attack the rich farmlands of Brazil. Argentina and Chile had quickly aligned with the Brazilians in exchange for food credits. A similar war was already underway in the former Vietnam.

The North American Alliance was diverting resources to bolster threats from the Euro-Russian Pact. There had been numerous instances of espionage against our military installations. As a result there would be no resources committed to my rescue or to stopping the aliens from absconding with our technology. Earth was at war with itself and the alien threat would have to be dealt with at another time.

I was devastated by the news of what was happening at home. How could Man lay waste to Man when we had come so far together in our own defense? I was sure food supplies would be adequate if the same level of cooperation that was used against the aliens was applied. But Man had a suspicious nature and that suspicious nature often led to decisions based on emotion, wild thoughts and speculation rather than truths. We were often our own worst enemy.

With the bad news, I lay in my cell contemplating my dilemma. If I waited for help to come I might die as a prisoner on some foreign planet, or perhaps be put into a zoo for other species to gawk at. There was also the chance that I would end up on the table as some scientific experiment aimed at enriching the minds of my alien captors. I began running the first thoughts of an escape and what that would mean through my head.

Another two months passed and my explorations had taken me to every room on the three lower levels and many of the rooms on level-two. I knew where all the Kurtz slept in their stasis pods, I knew where the Barhoo were used as menial workers and I knew where the important ships systems and controls were located.

I could only guess that the wars at home were not going well as I had lost communications with Command for several weeks. I wondered if there was anyone left to answer or if the QE comm link at Command had been destroyed. It was worries of home that I had to put aside as any concerns I had were speculative at best. I instead focused my thoughts and energies on my escape.

I had finally worked up the nerve to attempt an exploit up to level-one. Over time I had acquired the necessary codes to move from floor to floor from the Barhoo standing at their consoles. I was surprised at the level of access they had when the right questions were asked. Security on the mega-ship was almost non-existent.

I rode the elevators up to level-one and exited into the hallway beside a Kurtz guard. I immediately commanded him to take me to the stasis pod of Boota under the guise that I had important information that he wished to be awakened for. The guard looked confused until I gave him what I would consider the "evil eye".

I was immediately escorted to the seventh hall and to a room that housed the five staff members that made up the science team on-board the mega-ship. When the guard failed to leave the room I gave him an order to do so as the information I was to relay was privileged.

The guard hurried from the room and the door closed behind him with a wisp. I walked the room looking at each of the pods until I came to the one that contained Boota. I pressed several buttons on the base of the pod following instructions that I had received from the Barhoo on level-five.

Small mechanisms clicked and motors whirred as the stasis pod began to bring Boota back from his suspended state. Several minutes passed before a rush of air signaled that the clear door of the stasis pod had unsealed. The door slowly rose up and slid behind the top end of the pod.

Another minute passed before Boota opened his eyes and became aware of the pod's opening. When he sat upright in the pod I stepped in and put my hand around his throat. He immediately gasped and tugged at my firm grip with his weak arms.

He then returned a look of shock when I spoke to him in his native tongue. I told him that I was in control of the ship and that we were heading back towards Earth. I told him that he was going to tell me where my BGS suit was or I would immediately end his life.

In Boota's mind he reasoned that everything I had said must have been true. I was standing before him on a secure level with my hand around his throat. He eagerly gave up the information I sought.

When I had completed my inquisition I returned Boota to his stasis pod and reprogrammed it to put him back in his suspended state for the remainder of the voyage. As the pod once again began to whir and click I gave a finger wave to Boota as his terrified eyes slowly began to close.

With renewed confidence and spirit I then strode down the hall in the direction of the room that supposedly housed my BGS. I would once again be in a position to fight. My first thoughts were of reaching and destroying the reactor core.

As I briskly walked down the hall another guard made himself present. He demanded to know what my business was on level-one. I again began to tell a tale of what Boota had ordered. The guard stood in front of me with his hand on his holstered weapon and it was soon apparent that he was not buying my story.

I gave out an exasperated sigh in an attempt to throw him off his game before I balled my fist and punched at his face. I was again shocked at how feeble the Kurtz were. Before the guard could raise his weapon, my fist traveled three inches into his facial structure crushing his brain and ending his life. I pulled my fist back in astonishment as the dead alien fell to the floor.

I pulled his body into the nearest room and exchanged armbands with him. I reasoned that I would have access to any door on the ship. I picked up his weapon and set the energy level to its highest setting before exiting into the hallway. I had killed one of their crew... there would be no turning back.

I sprinted down the hall to the door of the lab that supposedly contained my BGS suit. I uttered the command into the armband to open the door, but nothing happened. I then looked back towards the room where I had exchanged armbands with the dead guard... seconds later I was in a full sprint towards it.

As I approached the door two guards rounded the curvature of the hall with one looking in my direction. I raised my weapon and a green bolt of energy flew down the hall tearing into the guard before he could react. As the other guard ducked into a room I knew that my escape had become common knowledge aboard the mega-ship. Seconds later red lights began to flash up and down the hallways as I ran.

I turned the corner heading for an inner hall and then stepped up to an elevator. Again the door did not open when I uttered the command. I was trapped in the hallways of level-one and my captors had me greatly outnumbered.

I turned and ran back in the direction of the guard who had ducked into the doorway. I met him dead on as I rounded the corner into the room. My reactions were superior and within seconds I grabbed his throat and squeezed until I felt the brittle bones in his neck breaking in my hand.

I continued back to the room with the dead guard and once again exchanged armbands. I gave a command and the door before me closed with a wisp. As I held the armband up to my mouth and uttered the command again the door opened in front of me. I dove hard to the left as a blue bolt of energy came screaming into the room and impacted on the far wall. While still on the floor I rolled into the doorway and returned fire at a stunned guard. His chest exploded and his body flew backwards hard against the hallway wall.

I then stepped into the hall, knelt and blasted away at another guard as he came into view. The green high energy bolt impacted his right shoulder nearly ripping his arm from its socket. The injured guard fell to the floor, writhing in pain.

I ran to the door of Boota's level-one lab and uttered the command for the door to open. With a wisp I was fast inside and commanded it again to close. I then began the search for my BGS. As I tore through each of the cabinets in the lab I was angry with myself for not having asked its exact location.

When the last cabinet had been opened I looked down at my armband and asked for the status of the stasis chambers on levels 4 and 5. The armband responded with a countdown that would signal the awakening of the Kurtz soldiers. I quickly estimated that I had five minutes until the garrison of Kurtz soldiers would be standing outside the laboratory door.