Page 3 of Keeping Freya
“So… if you guys are done, there are lights blinking and there’s still another ship out there,” Brittney says dryly. I clear my throat and wipe my tears.
She is right; there are lots of lights blinking, a red one looks very urgent, and I walk towards the control panel. It seems like what you see in one of those Star Wars movies,everybody back home always raved about. There are no symbols either, and I curse.
“Did any of you happen to learn how to read alien script, or pick up on alien tech before we were brought here?”
“Well, no, but uhm maybe you can try voice control?” Crys suggests.
“Voice control?” These girls might be onto something.
“Yes, voice control!” Brittney adds. “It’s how in one of my alien romance novels the heroine figured out the cave they were in was actually a spaceship!”
“They write romance novels about fucking aliens?”
“Yes! Exactly!” Crys and Brittney exclaim in unison, and I roll my eyes.
“I can’t with you people, I did not mean it the way it sounded. I have done enough alien fucking to last me a lifetime, thank you very much.” They all respond with giggles, and I turn back to the panel.
“How did they activate the voice control?”
“In the book, they just talk to the ship.” Brittney steps forward. “Computer, activate voice control.”
Gurgleded sounds come from around us, and we look at each other in shock. It actually works?
“Computer, switch language to English,” Crys says as she steps forward.
“Default language: Earth English, lingua franca of Planet 98372903. Species: humans. Location unknown.” A metallic-sounding voice says. Shit.
Everybody is momentarily speechless, then Brittney starts jumping up and down. Crys joins her immediately. “IT WORKED!” They shout in unison.
“Yes, okay, one point in favor of the Alien Fuckers, now I’m gonna figure out how to kill some more fucking aliens.” I turn towards the panel, the red light still blinking insistently.
“Computer, what does the red light that’s blinking on the control panel mean?”
“You are being hailed by the C84679 Cruiser next to you.” I snort, as if I’m going to answer that.
“Computer, can you point our weapons at the C84679 cruiser?”
“Weapons aimed.”
“Computer, please load weapons.”
“Weapons loaded.”
“Computer.” I begin with a pause for good measure. “Please answer the call.”
A screen pops up, and one of those ugly aliens appears on the screen. This one is adorned in jewelry, and instead of making him more appealing, the ornaments enhance his ugliness. He immediately starts screaming when the call comes through.
“HOW DARE YOU KEEP YOUR HIGH COMMANDER WAITING! WHAT COULD YOU HAVE POSSIBLY BEEN DOING THAT IS KEEPING YOU? WE NEED TO MOVE TO GET INTO HYPERSPACE”
“Well, I suggest you do that yourself, and you might want to do it quickly.”
“WHO ARE YOU!” he keeps yelling.
I raise an eyebrow. “Did nobody teach you that yelling is impolite? Since you don’t seem like a very reasonable man, I’m only going to say this once. We have taken over the ship; your whatever you call them are dead, and we have the weapons aimed and loaded at your vessel.” He visibly pales, and I continue. “I see I have your attention now. Leave us alone. Just go and leave us the fuck alone. I will count to 5; we will start shooting if you’re not gone. One, Two-” Before I can continue, the connection is cut off, and I see their engines powering up. The light gets so bright I close my eyes,and they're gone when I open them again. Poof. Like they weren’t there in the first place.
I turn around and I grin at the girls. “We did it! WE FUCKING DID IT!!”
We didn’t really thinkthis far ahead, so it takes us a while to figure out what to do next. Everybody has different ideas and different backgrounds. Anna and Daphne just got here, fresh from the boat as they say, and they’re as hellbent on going home as I am. Jodie has been in space the longest, while Brittney and Crys’s experience is somewhat limited. We don’t go into detail, but we’ve all been fortunate. So far, this ship has been the worst part of our journeys, and believe me when I say, I have seen worse. Much worse.
