Page 12 of Alien's Eternal Mate

Crying out with agony, I rolled myself out of the way. The lift slammed down inches from where I lay.

“Oh god,” I gasped, sitting up and clutching my side. “Oh god. Got to call Luna base. Got to call…”

I dug my compad out, only to find it torn by a cyborg’s claw. The screen remained dark no matter how I tried to jury rig it.

I was alone at the bottom of a mine shaft, with hundreds of ravenous cybernetic horrors between me and safety, and I had no way of calling for help.

“At least,” I gasped between heavy pants “I don’t have to listen to Dowron’s shit anymore.”

I laughed, though it hurt and I didn’t find it the least bit funny.

THREE

CARTER

Isearched about on the floor until I recovered a sharp bit of metal. Carefully, I used it to cut strips from the leggings of my jumpsuit to make a crude bandage.

I gave up on trying to tie it around my torso. I just crammed the wadded strips against my side and hoped for the best. With effort, I was able to get to my feet and stagger to the crumpled lift.

I hoped to cannibalize parts in order to fix my compad, but I soon discovered the gunfire had reduced the electronic components to slagged scrap. I bent over until my head rested against the cold metal and moaned.

My only hope was to explore the alien facility, and hope that I came across something that could get a signal to the surface.

The strange green metal formed the walls, the floors, pretty much every surface. It seemed to be one solid piece, without panels or sections. I wondered how they could have manufactured it.

My scientist’s curiosity drove me on as much, or more, than my desire to survive. I found my way to an X junction, with three separate paths branching off from the one I had traversed.

“Well, which way leads to salvation, and which way to more of those cyborg monsters? Or do any of them lead anywhere of significance?”

Nothing replied to my query. Which was just as well. The last thing I needed was another episode of psychosis.

I leaned against the wall for support as I chose the left hand path. I had read somewhere once that you could find your way out of any maze simply by following the left hand path religiously. I left bloody handprints for the first dozen yards or so. I looked down at my ribs and found my makeshift bandage had at least slowed the seeping tide.

I reached a metal iris, closed like a tightly focused eye. Feeling about with blood-sticky fingers, I found a small depression. Simply touching the small groove activated the iris, spiraling it open to reveal a steam-filled tunnel.

Sweat beaded on my brow as I entered the tunnel. The white mist obscured my path, but I could still make out a larger chamber ahead. More importantly, I thought I saw something that could be a control panel or computer terminal.

I moved a little faster, even though it hurt, until I reached the chamber. It formed a nearly perfect circle, the walls covered with circuity in patterns I found difficult to comprehend. I could make out a symbol for Continuum, which probably referred to the time/space variety, but I couldn’t be sure.

To my surprise, I discovered a molded seat near a boxish structure covered in alien symbols. I settled into the chair, and realized it had never been intended for a human. I felt like a child inside of it, and had to lean forward in a most awkward way to touch the console.

“What is this?”

The symbols lay on belted tracks, which could be adjusted by hand. I realized then that this was a mechanical way of setting coordinates.

But what kind of coordinates? I had long ago learned how to do superluminal calculations by hand, without any assistance from a computer. These formulas were so mind-bogglingly complex and arcane, I had no idea where to even start.

“I could spend an entire lifetime just trying to figure out the purpose of this room. For all I know, this is a coffee bar. Or it could be the station’s power source, or perhaps the nerve center.”

My voice sounded hollow and tinny to my ears. The metal walls had a peculiar capacity for sound absorption. I fiddled with the metal bands, changing the symbols just to try and judge their function.

A click sounded heavily in the air, and the symbols lit up.

“Now I’ve done it. Curiosity and the cat, and all of that…”

I waited for something to happen, expecting the worst. I started to rise from the seat, and the symbols flashed red.

A metal band snapped out and trapped me around the waist. I cried out, hand clutching at it in futile struggles.

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