Approximately 10 years BV
*Corti research vessel *Inestimable Knowledge **
Dr. Dixsl
Dr. Dixsl almost showed excited about the stasis pod that the acquisition squad had left in the primary hanger of the Inestimable Knowledge. Almost. He was too pragmatic to fantasize about the notoriety that could be attained from the species evaluation program, but the potential was there nonetheless. Trodip’s team had been somewhat evasive about what manner of sapient they had acquired, exactly where they had acquired it, and had departed rather hurriedly. No matter, their contract had provisions to protect the Corti Directorate should anything too dire occur.
Thumbing the communication icon of his data pad, he called his marginally capable lab assistant/pilot.
“Chktulksth, once those idiot Chehnasho are clear, prep examination lab two for our new guest. I will be taking what readings I can while it is still in stasis.” Without waiting for a response, Dr. Dixsl closed his pad. Exam lab two had barely been used, so he was confident that even his oaf of an assistant would be able to handle the task without supervision. Rrrrtktktkp’ch were supposed to be relatively intelligent. But you must remember the qualifier- realtively, the Doctor thought to himself. He’s lucky I bother to pay him for his shoddy work. Once again, he cursed his luck for losing his previous assistant- another Corti, a very capable female, to a job offer back on the Homeworld. He had pondered a reproductive arrangement with her before she had left. If one of these species evaluations ever paid off in a big way, he would be able to forge the necessary contacts to get such offers himself and maybe they would cross paths again.
As he stood outside the hanger door, ready to palm the control open, he felt that annoying rise of excitement again. An observer would probably not have noticed the pause while he got control, but he chastised himself internally. How can I control others if I can’t control myself? With a sharp jab, he operated the door controls and walked into the hanger with its lone occupant. Firing using his data pad again, he logged into the stasis pod’s systems as he walked over. Hmmm, what did they bring me this time? Mass is <120 kilograms>, length is <under 2 meters>? Is it made of stone and metal? He started a recalibration subroutine for both the pod and his data pad. Numbers like this didn’t make sense. Those subroutines could run while he worked a hover cart under the pod and directed it to the examination lab.
He continued a visual evaluation while he padded along beside the self-directed cart. It was not that different from a Corti overall. Two eyes, small mouth, but a nose that was much too large. Bilateral symmetry, tan/pinkish skin, and what looked like hair all over its head and face. It wore clothes like a Qinis, but they looked much more functional. There was an odd pattern to the clothes- irregularly shaped splotches of browns, greens and grays. He would have to ask about that when the implants were safely in. Once the hover cart had come to a stop next to the exam room table, he turned to address his assistant. “I’m going in to the observation room to set up the diagnostic scanners, Chktulksth. I took some very strange readings from this specimen. We will likely need more than the standard tranquilizer dose before we can install the translator implant. Turn off the stasis field, tranquilize the specimen, and remove his garments for examination and cataloging. I will return when I am ready to install the translation module.”
“Right away, Doctor.” As Chktulksth turned to his tasks, the doctor exited to the reinforced observation room and activated the standard safety and containment fields that protocols dictated be used when working with unknown specimens. As he watched through the window, Chktulksth prepared three sets of triple strength tranquilizer syringes. He placed one beside the pod and held one in each of his small manipulator arms while preparing to cancel the stasis field with one of his larger working arms. That was a good plan. In the split second that the field was cancelled, Chktulksth was already injecting the drug into the specimen. The specimen groaned and tried to stand up in the pod- even after a triple dose. Chktulksth started to get nervous and stabbed in the second syringe, still with no apparent effect!
The specimen howled in pain, but Dr. Dixsl could see that the second dosing was having an effect. It slurred out some speech, reaching and stumbling towards his now thoroughly panicked and squealing assistant. Chktulksth fumbled for the last syringe as the beast staggered towards him. Chktulksth’s multiple legs skittered underneath as the beast wrapped him in its arms and collapsed straight on top of him. He could see the last syringe repeatedly stabbing at the creature as poor Chktulksth was crushed. Well, that’s what assistants are for. At least he earned his paycheck. Dr. Dixsl made a mental note to review his employment forms and send said payment to his next of kin- minus the cost of cleaning up the corpse, naturally.
*Corti research vessel *Inestimable Knowledge **
Jedidiah Harmons
Jedidiah Harmons was having one of the worst days of his life. It had started all right- he had finally trapped that raccoon that kept getting in his trash pile; the tomato, pepper and hidden pot plants were coming along nicely; and he had pulled three good catfish off his trot line in the pond. A six’er of beer for lunch followed by a nap in the hammock behind the doublewide. A feller couldn’t ask for a better summer’s morning. Maybe he could get the truck running this afternoon and get to town.
Then the blinding light came and, before he was fully awake, he was floating up into the sky. He kicked and struggled helplessly in the air as a hole opened up in nothing and dragged him inside. The hole closed underneath him and he found himself inside a room, surrounded by a bunch of man-frogs. A couple of them grabbed his arms and bum-rushed him into a coffin looking thing. One of them pushed a button and somehow changed into a green striped giraffe-looking thing with way too many arms that was stabbing him with a needle. He tried to pull himself out of the coffin, but the green giraffe stuck him with another needle, and he started to feel woozy.
“Ow! What the hell are you doin’?” he yelled as he climbed all the way out. The thing squealed and skittered its legs like a hound dog on the kitchen floor trying to chase a cat. Then his own legs went all rubbery, he started seeing double, and the floor tilted up to meet him. He tried to grab hold of the green giraffe to stay upright, but it crumpled under his weight like a piece of Walmart furniture. As he lay on the thing, with the room going dark and mushy, he could dimly feel…
Dr. Dixsl
The small, slight, gray skinned Corti are far from physically imposing, but no one can deny their intelligence. It was certainly not typical to implant a translation module while the subject was on the floor, but adaptions could be made. Using the hover cart, cabling and bracing spars for leverage, Dr. Dixsl rolled the impossibly heavy specimen off the unfortunate Chktulksth. He cut the bloody clothing off and disposed of it. Implanting the translation module, while incredibly invasive, was routine. Follow up that with a Frontline vaccination implant, and a blood sample for good measure, and the good doctor had his new project safely behind a level 10 quarantine field well before the tranquilizers wore off. Now that the threat of accidental death was much less imminent, he removed the corpse of his erstwhile assistant and ran himself through a full decontamination procedure. Safety protocols were clear: any unidentified specimen was to be treated like a Category 12 deathworld native until proven otherwise.
When he returned from the thoroughly unpleasant process, his pet project was awake and sitting upright on the floor. From the way he was rubbing his hand, it was evident that he had been experimenting escaping the force field. That bode well for his intelligence.
“My name is Dr. Dixsl. Do you have a name? Can you speak?” he asked in a clear, slow voice.
“Of course I can fucking speak! What the fuck is going on! Where am I?” the thing yelled. It was obviously emotionally unstable. It demonstrates awareness of its surroundings, its clothing proved at least a textile industry, and it can converse, even if it seems fixated on procreation.
“To answer your questions in reverse order: you are aboard the Inestimable Knowledge, a Corti research vessel tasked with identifying species on the verge of attaining a galactic presence. You have been selected as an example of your species for said evaluation. Do you concur with that summation?”
“You sure use a lot of big words for a little feller. You one of them little people in a costume? I saw a program about you guys on the TV a ways back. You got that Hygro-cephilitis? That what make you head so big?”
“Corti have a large head because we have a large brain, which we actually use, unlike so many in the galaxy. Now answer the question: Are you a typical specimen of your species?” he was starting to lose patience with this thing. It might be better to space it now and start anew than waste resources on a babbling idiot. If it couldn’t answer basic questions, there was no way it would be achieving FTL technology in a reasonable timeframe.
“I suppose I am,” it answered cautiously.
“And do you have a name?” the doctor pressed.
“Name’s Jedidiah Harmons, after me grand daddy.”
“Not your name! The name of your species! I don’t care about you, you imbecile!” Doctor Dixsl snapped. He paused and took a few calming breaths. This thing’s stupidity is contagious. Talking with him is like thinking through mud. Getting control over himself, he continued. “My work is only to evaluate your species. Are you worth the Directorate’s time and effort to begin adapting technology to your physiology? You are merely the lens through which I will make that determination. Now, what does your species call itself, so that I can appropriately label my files?”
“I’m Human. We are Human.”
“Good,” he said while tapping away on his data pad, “and the name of your home world?”
“Earth.” It turned its head and looked at me sideways, “Umm, in this ‘evaluatin,’ you gonna stick things up my bum?”
“What?! No! Why would I do that?”
“I dunno. I just heard stories is all, and I woke up nekkid as a jaybird.”
“I have neither need nor inclination to probe your orifices. My scanners are non-invasive.”
Its relief was palpable. “Can I go home when you’re done?”
“It is standard procedure to return subjects to their native environment upon completion of evaluations.” The doctor answered. That’s not technically a lie, after all. If I ever find where his homeworld is, I will certainly be following those procedures. “Don’t worry about your clothes. I will fabricate replacements if that is a cultural taboo for your species.” A few more taps on the data pad followed.
“Now, before we begin, do you require sustenance? The scans will take some time and you will need to be somewhat still. I can provide a universal nutrition sphere and water if you need.”
Jedidiah Harmons
Yeah, he wore a lot of camo and drank a lot of beer. He lived in a doublewide trailer and only shaved when he felt like it. So what if he barely finished high school? His mama raised him in that same trailer to be a straight shooter, and that included seeing when someone else wasn’t. The little guy’s buttons sure were easy to push, and Jed noticed that he didn’t really answer the question about going home.
He stayed sitting on the floor, idly touching the invisible wall while he waited for the little gray guy to return. It zapped him, like when he touched a live 120 volt line when he was wiring up his car port. Even when he gritted his teeth and really pushed, he couldn’t get through it.
Before too much time had passed, the doctor returned with a glass of water and a gray ball. He placed them both on the floor, just on the other side of the barrier. He backed away to a control panel near the door and pushed a few buttons.
“I am lowering the quarantine field. You may have noticed that we can understand each other. While you were unconscious I installed a translation module, and a vaccination implant. I don’t know what sicknesses you can spread or contract. As long as you are cooperative and docile, you will retain your freedom. Act otherwise,” he appeared to be trying to look threatening “and you will regret it.”
Jed’s answer to intimidation was always the same- ignore it.
“That has got to be the saddest hush puppy I have ever seen” he asked instead. “Am I supposed to eat that? Off the floor?”
“The floor is sterile, and that is not a ‘hush puppy,’ it is a universal nutrition sphere. A Corti diet supplement that is compatible with every known digestive system. It is a wonder of science!”
Jed carefully took a bite. He could tell he had something in his mouth, but not much else. It didn’t really have flavor, or texture, really. He washed it down with some tepid water and looked at the self-proclaimed doctor expectantly.
“It’s not any worse than other things I’ve had. Deep fry that sucker and it might even be tasty. Got anything stronger than water? It’s been a long day. Still seems more like a dream than anything real. I mean, I was asleep, then flying, then man-frogs that turned into green mutant giraffes, and now a little alien bugger that speaks American.”
“I can assure you, this is no dream. The team that extracted you is a species known as the Chehnasho. The ‘green giraffe’ was my lab assistant, a now deceased Rrrrtktktkp’ch. And, as I have said multiple times, I am a Corti.”
“Right, and what did you say your name was again?”
“Dr. Dixsl,” the corti sighed.
“That’ll tie my tongue in a knot. Can I just call you Dr. Dick?”
“As long as it will end this conversation and get you up on the examination table so we can get started.”
“Alright, but don’t forget the clothes. And I wouldn’t mind if you made some for yourself, truth be told.”
“Why would I do that? I find this environment perfectly comfortable.”
“I was just hopin.” Jed said as he hopped up on the table, “let’s get this done.”
Dr. Dixsl
Dr. Dixsl found it very fortunate that his Corti physiology allowed him to compartmentalize the horror that he felt as he examined the human. He ran the scans three times because he was sure no one in the Directorate would believe this. Over 600 muscles, and bones that were denser than any on record. The neural connections is his brain numbered in the trillions! All fueled by a metabolism that ran like a furnace. His immune system was akin to a biological weapons factory. There was only one conclusion to this mystery.
He had a real deathworlder on his ship! And a sapient one at that. Theoretically impossible or not, that was no denying the practical existence of what was laying on the table on the other side of that window. Doctor Dixsl was sorely tempted to space this thing and destroy all evidence of this encounter. Incredible claims required incredible proof. The only way any of this would be believed was if he brought the deathworlder back to civilization for biopsy or dissection. But doing that was likely unleash a plague the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the Robalin had been pacified. But think of the notoriety! Every young Corti for generations would know his name. What to do?! Ethical dilemmas are very unusual for Cortis.
First things first, though. The scan’s data were copied and backs up archived. Then copied again, encrypted, and archived in separate system. The blood sample he had was placed in a small stasis cube for later research. Now that all the passive information was secure, he could start looking into the limits of this deathworlder’s physiology.
Now, where can I experiment on this thing safely? The secondary hangar will be perfect. Jedidiah Harmons can consider it a personal space, the environment is easily controlled, and it things begin to go poorly, I can just open the bay doors and drop the kinetic field. Problem solved. Pleased with himself, Dixsl crossed into the examination room and addressed his career’s new best friend.
“Jedidiah Harmons, your scans are unlike any on record. Your species appears to be truly unique. Your body appears to be host to a bacterial and viral cornucopia that could lay waste to much of the galaxy. I will move you into separate quarters where you can adjust the environment to your liking, and I can safely isolate your biological flotsam from the rest of the ship. Please follow me.”
Jedidiah Harmons
He lay as still as he could while the little doctor ran his scans. If he was any judge of facial expressions, the doctor wasn’t happy. Pressing more buttons, the machines hummed and lights flashed again. And again. This was starting to get suspicious. Looking through the window, he could see the doctor lost in thought, then his expression changed and he walked from the control room into the exam area.
Here comes the lies, Jed thought to himself. Doctors always think they can use fancy words to convince you to be a guinea pig. “Species unique… separate… isolate… flotsam… bacteria… lay waste to galaxy… yada yada yada.” He heard the doctor say. He thinks he can get me to help build my own trap! His own efforts at trapping that raccoon came to mind. No way in fucking Hell. Momma didn’t raise no dummy. If the good doctor really doesn’t know anything about Humans, who am I to spoil the surprise?
“Sure thing, Doctor Dick!” he said cheerily aloud, “Lead the way!”
He followed the short, gray alien out of the exam lab, through a series of spartan passageways, and into a rather large space. That looks like his plan B to me he thought as he eyed to large blank wall that no controls or fixtures on it.
“This will be your designated space,” Dr. Dick gestured to the empty room like a game show hostess, “What do you require to feel comfortable for the duration of your stay?”
“Let’s see…. Hmmm… feels funny. I’m too light. Feels like I’m gonna step into the air every time I move.”
“Gravity controls are here,” Doctor Dixsl demonstrated how to adjust the settings, “along with temperature.”
“Alright, now I’ll need some food, and I wouldn’t say no to something stronger than water. You fellers drink any beer?”
“Food? You already ate today. And what is beer? It doesn’t translate properly. It is a beverage?”
“You don’t have beer? That sucks. It’s a drink made from fermented barley- that’s a grain on Earth- and yeast. I was homebrewin’ for a while, but it just got easier to pop down to the store and buy some.” He looked down at the doctor, “One sad hush puppy ain’t nowhere near enough for me for a whole day. I’m used to three squares plus a snack. I’m gonna need greens, carbs, and meat to keep me fat and happy.”
“What do you mean ‘squares?’”
“A square meal means it… never mind, I just need a bunch of different things to eat.”
“I have a sufficient quantity of nutrition spheres, the hydro farm has plenty of cqcq plants that Chktulksth won’t be needing, and there are dizi rats in stasis. It won’t take long to set up a breeding population,” the doctor listed as he made further notes on his pad. “Now settle yourself in, I have work to do. I will return in a few ri’s to get the active testing started.” He closed his datapad and made for the exit.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa there, Doctor Dick. I can’t just sleep on the floor now, can I? Then there’s to clothes you said I could have. You might not mind having your dong flopping around all day, but I do!”
The Corti took a deep breath, and turned back impatiently. “I will see what I can do,” and he stomped out of the room.
Dr. Dixsl
He was a scientist. He was not supposed to be wasting his time with pathetic little tasks like specimen husbandry. That was why he has an assistant. Had and assistant. I have much more important tasks than playing nursemaid for a perfectly capable sapient. He stopped in his tracks. That was the perfect solution! He could take care himself! I truly am a genius.
Corti research vessels were intended to operate completely away from civilization. After all, that’s where the discoveries were to be made. Since it may be necessary to bring the technology to the problem, instead of the problem to the ship, its stores included a portable nanofactory. Doctor Dixsl directed his efforts to pulling it out of storage, onto a hovercart, and back up to Jedidiah Harmon’s compartment.
“This will do what you need.” He showed the hapless creature how to control it to make the textiles he wished. “Your garments, bedding, whatever else you need can be made with this, Jedidiah Harmon.”
“Thanks, Doc. That should get me started. If you can point me to the shitter, I’ll be all set for now.”
“Lavatory facilities are here in the locker area, behind this door. Now, get yourself situated. I will return after a sleep to begin your evaluation. The sooner that is complete, the faster I can get you home.”
21 Human sleep cycles later*
*Corti research vessel *Inestimable Knowledge **
Dr. Dixsl
Dr. Dixsl was slightly less than impressed with the Deathworlder’s performance on the evaluations as he looked over the data summaries. Despite the massively overbuilt frame, physical strength dropped off quickly under test conditions. Endurance tests showed similar results: strong performance, then the subject collapsed and couldn’t continue until he had rested for a full sleep cycle. Problem solving and strategic thought tests agreed. Jedidiah Harmons showed very promising results at the beginning of a test, but just as he seemed to solve it, he made huge errors and failed.
The only thing that agreed with expectations was his appetite. The supply of nutrient spheres was rapidly being depleted. The third crop of cqcq plants was already being consumed, and the dizi rat’s vaunted ability to reproduce was being strained. Every time he passed outside the specimen’s hanger, he nearly regurgitated his own rations at the smell of cooking flesh. That entire level of the ship reeked of Jedidiah Harmons’ “barbecue.”
When Doctor Dick had brought the first Dizi rats to Jedidiah Harmons, he had no way to imagine the horrors he would witness in the Human’s food preparation. Jedidiah Harmons had looked warily at the first dizi rat, shrugged and said, “I’ve et squirrel and possum, how different can a three-eyed, purple derper be?”
With that, he produced a “skinnin’ knife” he had crafted from the nanofactory and efficiently dispatched and butchered the little beast.
Perhaps that is what is meant by the term * Deathworld. *It is such a savage environment that killing for basic sustenance is second nature.
Jedidiah Harmons waved the corpse in his orange blood covered hands. “Earth to spaceman! Hey Dr. Dick, Lost in thought? Probably have to be careful about that with a brain your size,” he chuckled. “What you got that I can cook this little guy on?”
“What do you need, Jedidiah Harmons, and I’ll see what I can do.”
“I just need some heat. I can go from there. Oh, dude, call me Jed. Seems like we’re gonna be spendin’ plenty of time together. It’ll get old hearing Jedidiah Harmons, Jedidiah Harmons, Jedidiah Harmons, all day long.”
“Very well- Jed. I can expose a plasma power conduit from the wall. Will that suffice?”
“Let’s take a look!”
Ever since then, the reek of roasting flesh never seemed to go away. The only other major alteration that Jed had insisted on was a large tub of water. At the start of each evaluation, Doctor Dixsl would walk in on Jed floating in his “pool,” spearing hunks of Dizi flesh off the conduit, and praising the health merits of “bobbing and shish ka bobbing.”
This morning was no different, though the night would almost certainly be. Now that the evaluations were concluded, Dr Dixsl would be free of this specimen, and could return to civilization. He doubted he would receive the accolades he originally had envisioned for introducing a proven sapient deathworlder species to the galaxy. The results were not spectacular enough. Declining to subject himself to the stench one more time, he instead activated the ship’s internal communication system.
”I have news, Jed. The evaluation of your species is complete, and you and I will be parting ways today.”
Jed hopped out of the pool, and started donning the more extensive clothed that he wore while testing.
“That’s great to hear, Doc! You’re an alright feller, but I’ve been missin home right fierce.”
“Two things about that: The squad the extracted you did not leave directions back to your home world before you left, and the rate that you are consuming the ship’s food stores precludes an extended search. As it is, I will be pressed to make it back to resupply without entering stasis myself.”
“How ‘bout you throw me in one of those pods, and you can find my home and drop me off?”
“No, I have other species that I need to evaluate. I will not waste my scientific career on a haphazard search for the home of one insignificant individual. Goodbye, Jedidiah Harmons.” With that, he activated the controls to open the hangar doors to empty space.
Jedidiah Harmons
Jed had watched the Corti’s face during each test. It hadn’t been tough to skew the results. Once Dr. Dick thought he was completely flagged from the exertions, he had spent the evening hours learning about the ship itself. Using the nanofactory to learn about the ship’s material makeup, he was confident all he had to do was get a way around those force fields. Force field require power, and that could be cut.
While the good doctor was orating his career asperations, Jed was starting his own backup plan. A curved section of pipe he had made, as large around as Jed’s thigh, was pulled from its hiding place between the pool and the plasma barbecue. One end was shoved into the open access panel. With the words “Goodbye, Jedidiah Harmons,” the other end was punched through the side of the pool.
Several hundred gallons of water disagreed with the plasma flow spectacularly. With a blinding flash, Jed was blown to the other side of the hangar and the room was plunged into darkness. Jed was worried he had been blinded until the emergency lighting came on. He staggered to his feet and, pausing only to grab his knife, forced to door to the ship open before power came back on. He would have to hurry, there was no telling how long he would have before Dr. Dick got the power back up.
There’s got to be a way off the ship. Some kind of lifeboat, he thought while he did his best to navigate the dim hallways. He needed the gray turd to show him to where the life boats were. His Pa had told him stories of using terror on Charlie back in Nam. He reckoned it would work here, too.
“I got pretty good at skinning little purple things, I wonder what you gray guys look like on the inside.”
“A guy gets tired of eating dizi meat day in and day out. Wonder how you’re gonna taste on my barbecue.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t eat you all at once. You’re too big for one meal, little piggy.”
Jed hoped the doctor could hear him.
Dr. Dixsl
The doctor could most certainly hear Jed. Whatever Jed had done, it has disabled main power to half the ship. Emergency communication had come up right after the lighting. Dixsl was frozen, his proud brain locked up with images of Jed slipping that sharp knife under his skin, laying strips of Corti muscle across a power conduit, the smell…
Dixsl heaved over and vomited. What have I let on my ship? Clearing his stomach had cleared his mind. I have to get control of the ship. This human is not a Hunter- I can outthink him. But a little voice in the back of his head was not so sure. He had missed Jed’s preparations, what else had he missed?
Jedidiah Harmons
Jed was worried that he might have over done the it. With no response to his trash talk, the Doctor night have already fled. If so, Jed was screwed. He hadn’t the faintest idea of where the control room for the ship was, much less how to use it. The first force field blocking the hall showed him he was on the right path. He knew that there was no way for him to get through it, he had tried that on the first day. To escape a trap, you have to think sideways. He returned to his hangar.
Dr. Dixsl
Where was the Human? He had finally isolated at least the corridor it was in, and the force field he had activated had shown surprising power draws shortly after. But then nothing. The taunting had stopped, and no other fields show any unusual consumption. It had to be somewhere. He kept working on rerouting power passed the blown conduits. Corti power distribution systems were flexible, and it didn’t take him long to isolate the bad portions and get the ship back, more or less. There was still no sign of the human, alive or dead, and that hangar where he had lived was dead to all sensors until those conduits could be replaced.
How am I going to solve this problem? Think! I’m in control of the ship. What does he want? To kill and eat me, obviously. He’s more intelligent than I thought. Blowing the power was clever. But he is also insane. I need to control where he can go. I’ll activate all the internal kinetic fields, except for a path to the main hangar. He won’t be able to use his trick twice. Once he’s in there, I’ll turn off the gravity and open the doors. Let him try to hold on to atmosphere! Once the fields were active, he sat back and waited. Once again, great intelligence triumphed and adapted to a clever trick.
Jedidiah Harmons
Jed stood in the middle of his dim hangar looking at the impressive burn scar from his plan. The whole room was without power except for the emergency lights. The pool was empty and the nanofactory was useless without juice. There were who-knows-how-many fields between him and the bridge. Sideways. He had to think sideways.
The locker room. This was a hangar, it was designed for external access. The locker room had several space suits. He walked over and started sorting through them. Two corti-sized, one for the green giraffe fella, and one that was monstrous. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know what was big enough to use that one.
There was also the testing equipment. All the brain games were on a computer, but the physical stuff might be useful. There was a bar that Dr. Dick would have him lift. The gravity would be adjusted to simulate different weights. That might be useful.
Then there was his bedding. Just a pallet of padding and a few blankets, but that could be adapted to something else. Cut into strips, could make some rope. Tie the little fucker up til he talked.
I could go outside. He wouldn’t be looking that way. I think I could fit in the giraffe’s suit. He wasn’t much bigger than me, for all he had a bazillion legs. But there was no sure way of getting back in. He didn’t know what kind of windows or doors the ship had, if it had any at all.
Think sideways.
The pole. The rope. The suits. The knife. The pipe.
I need to get around force fields. The more, the better. Any way that doesn’t have a force field is a way he *wants me to go.*
The pole. The rope. The suits. The knife. The pipe. The gravity.
Now he had an idea.
Doctor Dixsl
Doctor Dixsl could not see how he was being thwarted. Over and over, he would get an alarm that the load on the gravity plating was dangerously high, and the ship’s safety systems had turned off power to that section to prevent component damage. He reset the section, and everything read normal. While random at first, the outages were steadily moving closer to the bridge. There, it happened again. Only two fields between him and the problem. What was going on?
Again! Only one field left. It had to be the Human! How is he doing that?! Bang! There went the last one. The doctor’s hands were shaking so badly, there was already a tapping on the bridge door before he could reset the last field. Not that it would have helped.
Tap tap “You in there, Doc?” tap tap “I got some tests for you to take today.” tap tap tap “Open the door, Doc. Don’t make me angry.” tap tap “We got off on the wrong foot. We can still be friends. But you have to BOOM open BOOM this BOOM door!”
Doctor Dixsl’s legs went weak. They folded underneath him while his mouth worked soundlessly. The terror he felt as each blow made the reinforced door shake and dent blanked his mind. What is this thing?
“Sorry, Doc. I got a little excited. It’s been a rough morning. I was hoping to go home, and some guy tried to dump me into space. But I’m sure he has a good explanation, doesn’t he? Open the door so we can talk about it face to face.” Jed paused. “I have a confession to make also: I cheated on your tests. See? We both have our secrets. Feel better knowing that?”
Jed’s voice was calm and reasonable. It didn’t sound anything like the monster that had almost bashed its way through a door designed to withstand antitank pulse fire.
“If I let you in, how do I know you won’t tear me apart?” Dixsl said, weakly.
“I can’t go home if you’re dead, Doc.”
He’s right. If he harms me, he dies out here. That thought helped him disassociate his mind from the terror that had consumed it.
“I’ll open the door, but remember what you said,” he said in a far more confident voice as he unlocked the door.
Jedidiah Harmons
That was easier than I expected. He pushed his pile of junk out of view with his foot as the door opened. Now it’s time for the real poker game.
He rushed into the bridge, wrapped one hand around the gray xeno’s neck, and lifted him into the air before the Corti could react. Doctor Dick’s eyes looked like they were gonna pop out like an excited Chihuahua dog.
“You said you wouldn’t hurt me!” he gasped as his legs kicked in empty air.
“I said I wouldn’t tear you apart, fucker.” Jed answered through clenched teeth. He let the asshole dangle for a few more moments before releasing him. He counted on the gravity setting on the bridge to not harm the doc- too much.
While Dixsl gasped for breath on the floor, Jed started his own speech: “I noticed your lawyer-talk when I asked to go home. ‘Standard procedure,’ you said. You wanted me to think all I had to do was cooperate to get back home. I made a deal with you, asshole, and you are gonna keep it. Where I come from, welchers are the lowest of the low.” Keeping the Doctor Dick’s full attention, he balled up a fist and slammed it into the floor inches from the stricken Corti’s head.
Doctor Dixsl
Doctor Dixsl stared at the arm that so nearly filled his vision. The cords of muscle, the aligment of bones, the awful strength and restraint he felt while he dangled futilely, the dent that the same hand had left in the floor.
I am a fool. I have been out thought since he woke up. “Jed, I truly don’t know where your home is.” As he felt the predator’s focus bore into him, he hastily added “but I know who does!”