Promised to the Alien King

4

“Watson, since we are in a helicopter, people will notice us. If you hear gunshots, remain calm. The current situation is unstable- I’ve just received reports of people rebelling against us, mostly those who are unable to leave and those who think that children are sent to die on that planet, or just sent into space without a goal. They don’t trust the Earth Space Society, and therefore they will show hostility. I will give my best to avoid high conflict areas, but some incidents might happen. We will be accompanied by guards on streets- they’ll be going in vans, and they will eliminate the ground threats.” he said as he pulled out a gun from his bag. It was the same kind of gun that was used on a test. He threw it at me, and I barely managed to catch it. Why did he give me a gun? I suddenly started trembling. Were we actually going to be attacked? Will I have to shoot? I couldn’t shoot a person- I’m weak when it comes to that. Since that incident, I can’t as much as point a gun towards someone…

I dismissed the thought before grief managed to engulf me completely. I held tightly onto the gun, waiting for the captain to say something. Luckily, I was able to hide my uneasiness easily, since my face was usually expressionless, anyways.

“If they start shooting, they might kill you, or me. If they kill me, you will lose your captain and the pilot of this helicopter, and you will crash. So, it is your duty to protect me as best as you can, without risking your life. I can manoeuvre the helicopter really well, so the chances of getting shot are low- but just in case, Watson, be ready at all times.” he said seriously, waiting for my response.

“Understood, captain Michell. I will do my best to protect us both.” I said, meaning it. He was right- if he got shot, I was dead. My heart was threatening to beat out of my chest- if someone shot at us, I would freeze in terror. The memories of the past were still etched in my mind.

The night I sleepwalked… the one night I forgot the turn on the safety on my gun…

I let out a sigh, trying to calm my thoughts. It’s alright. Protect this man, and you will live. I really hoped that there would be no reason for me to use this gun.

The safety was on, and I let it remain that way. If I need to use it, I can switch it off easily.

“We’re leaving, Watson- get ready.” the captain said, his gaze turned towards the front. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but apparently, he was turning on the helicopter. I was clueless when it came to helicopters- it was one of the rare machines I knew close to nothing about.

Suddenly, we started rising, and I felt the fear leave me, to be replaced by excitement. I was going to fly!

And possibly die.

I pushed the thought of dying and shooting far away into the back of my mind, focusing on the view. Now that we rose a bit, I could see the students crowding next to buses. Once they saw us, they looked up. I spotted Jackie, who was waving frantically and yelling something at me. It sounded like ‘I’ll miss you!’, but it could’ve as well been her cursing at me for leaving her. The helicopter was leaned onto the side, since we were turning, so I waved at her, knowing she’d see me. She gave me one last look before being pushed into the bus by an impatient student that I couldn’t recognize.

As we kept rising, people became unrecognizable specks, and I felt grief engulf me. I was leaving my best friend and my family behind- honestly, I had a really good chance on being the one that’s going to space, especially now that the captain grew fond of me- kind of. He was impressed at my abilities, and I was sure that he wouldn’t want me sent home. But if there were to be any endurance tests going to be present, I might as well jump out of the helicopter now.

I was really bad at running. I couldn’t run for a long time, although I could run fast. But that didn’t help, since I was only able to do fast running for about 10 seconds before I got too tired to continue.

I got bored of looking after half an hour. I just wanted us to be there already, but there was a lot of flying left. We were flying north, but I had no idea where exactly we were going. I started twitching in my seat- I was restless, and I had to do something or I’d go crazy.

“Watson, either calm down or unbuckle yourself. You are free to walk around, lean through or do whatever as long as you don’t fall out. Just don’t be so nervous.” the captain said after fifteen minutes of me trying to adjust in the seat.

“Thank you, captain Michell.” I said. The thought of leaving the safety of the seat made me tremble, both from fear and excitement.

I pressed the button, and the safety belt rolled off of me. I was still holding the gun, just in case. I stood up slowly- the captain was a good pilot and the helicopter was calm, barely wobbling. I was still terrified of falling out, so I gripped the seat tightly as I was standing up. In that moment, the helicopter wobbled, and if it wasn’t for my desperate clutch of the seat, I would have fallen out.

“Be careful back there, Watson.” the captain warned me, noticing the disturbance. I rolled my eyes. Oh really? I wanted to dance back here and fall out.

I took a step towards the opening, looking at the buildings below. I grabbed the side of the opening, holding it tightly. I was still nowhere near the edge, afraid of falling.

I took a deep breath, deciding to stand at the very edge. If I was meant to die now, so be it. I took a step forwards, with the tip of my shoe outside the helicopter itself. I moved my other foot next to it, and straightened my upper body. I felt the wind go through my face, messing my hair, but I didn’t mind it. It felt great, and I felt free.

“Watson, I’m going to bring us lower- this is an area where planes fly low, we don’t want to get hit.” the captain said.

“Understood, captain Michell.” I said, the sentence already etched in my mind, since it was the only thing I said to him. True to his words, he steered the helicopter lower and lower, until we were barely above the rooftops.

“Isn’t this dangerous, captain Michell?” I asked. We were really low, and I was afraid we were going to hit a house and crash.

“It is, but it’s better than messing with the planes- I can’t dodge those, but I can manoeuvre the helicopter this low without a problem. Oh, keep your gun ready, this area is notorious for-“ he was cut off by a gunshot that barely missed my head.

I almost died. I still felt the gust of air created by the high-speed bullet. If the shooter shot just a few centimetres to the left, I would be dead now.

“Watson! Get to the side, for god’s sake!” he yelled, and I unfroze. Forgetting all caution, I basically jumped to the cover of a helicopter wall. I heard the captain say something in a language I didn’t understand.

“What language is that?” I asked, forgetting the formalities as my curiosity took the best of me.

“It’s the secret language of the Earth Space Society- you’ll all be learning it at the base. Now be quiet and shoot, my ground team is a bit behind- I need your skills!” he yelled at me and then continued speaking in that language.

Oh, so we get to speak a secret language? I didn’t see the point, but it wasn’t the right time for questions.

We were getting shot at. I took a deep breath for the millionth time today, and peeked through the opening. I saw a bunch of people with different masks on following us on motorcycles. There were seven of them, and each held a gun. They were yelling things like ‘Death to the Earth Space Trickery!’, and many more offensive things. I saw one of them looking at me as he took one hand of the bike and pointed it at me.

Before I could think, I had my gun pointed at him with the safety off and I was pressing the trigger. My instincts took over, and I watched in shock as the bullet that I fired went through the guy’s head. Everything seemed to be playing in slow motion, and I watched, terrified, as a large mass of blood sprayed from his forehead. He fell of the bike immediately, and he was soon out of my sight, since we were traveling faster.

I was breathing heavily. I just killed a man.

It’s not your first time…

I tried to calm down my breathing. I just took a person’s life- yes, he was trying to kill me, but I didn’t like this feeling.

“One down.” I said, knowing that I had to inform the captain.

“Good job. Try to take down the others before they get more support.” he told me, immediately saying something in that language, as well.

Good job? I felt terrible. I saved my own life, and I kept telling that to myself. But I was shaking.

Get yourself together.

I took a yet another deep breath and peeked out. Six of the guys were still driving. There were no other people of the streets- they were probably inside after hearing the gunshots. I hoped they were all safe.

The men seemed to be trying to get in front of us, so they can slow down for a better aim. They most likely weren’t aware of my existence and that they were in a danger of getting shot.

I lifted the gun, noticing my obvious advantage. I wanted to just close my eyes and get it over with, but I couldn’t close my eyes because I would be unable to see my targets. I was still gripping the side of the opening with one hand- falling out was still a danger.

I counted to three, and moved my hand quickly so that I was aiming at the guy last in line. I wanted to do is so that they don’t have time to react. If I shot the one in the front first, the others would see him fall.

My mind was all strategic now, and I decided to take the chance when I’m not thinking about taking lives to finish this. I pulled the trigger, entering my shooting mode. My hand moved slightly, and I shot again. And again. Until I could count six gunshots that came from my gun.

In a matter of seconds, all of the men had a bullet in their head- except one.

I missed one. I felt shame take over me- how could I miss? The man seemed confused at the sudden loss of his friends- but he didn’t stop.

All my empathy was gone- I just thought about my failure. I missed a target. That was unacceptable.

I lifted the gun angrily and shot once more. This time, he fell out of his bike, as well.

“All targets eliminated.” I said in a voice that didn’t belong to me. Me, Sane Watson, the quiet, nerdy girl, completely clumsy and only good at shooting- I killed seven people. All by myself.

“Impressive. There were eight of them?” he said in surprise. He heard eight gunshots, and assumed there were eight men. I felt embarrassed that I missed one after getting complimented so much. 

“There were seven. I missed one, but I finished him.” I said. I couldn’t believe what I was thinking- and saying! I treated these people like some kind of targets to practice on! I killed real, living people and I was calm about it. What’s wrong with me?

“You did well. I am impressed, Watson. The threat is over, we’re going high again. Get some rest.” he said.

I was trembling. I felt exhausted, and I crashed onto the seat.

I put on the safety buckle and closed my eyes. Before the images of those people dying had a chance to plague me, I was passed out from shock, exhaustion and fear- of myself.