In the Name of Earth

Chapter 21: On Alien Shores

“Are you sure about this?” Alexa asked once Lud slid into the escape pod after her and the unconscious Qui’Mal, and in all honesty, no. He was not sure at all.

Still, it had been a miracle that they had managed to remain unseen while squeezing a 120-kilogram pink teddy bear through the maintenance passes connecting the holding cells to the escape pods. Any moment now, someone could find the bodies of the pirate in the communication room or the two guards in the cell, and then it would be too late. The best they could do right now was hope that ejecting an escape pod during hyperlight travel would not have catastrophic repercussions.

“Not sure at all,” Ludwig said, taking a seat by the rear of the cabin—slightly larger than the inside of a human car—and punching the eject command.

The doors sealed them in, a hydraulic hiss sounded as the launch initiated and, suddenly, the blue haze of hyperlight beyond the tiny viewports was replaced by the dotted sheet of outer space. The recently closed glass door no longer faced the dark corridors of the pirate ship, only more space.

“That’s not a fiery death, so I’m not complaining,” Alexa muttered, then slid down the cushioned side of the escape pod. She allowed her head to slide until it rested on Qui’Mal’s fluffy hide. “It’s so good to finally lie down.”

“I bet… You must have been through a lot,” Lud spoke on his heavily accented English. “Sleep while I try sending out a distress signal.”

“No!” Alexa shook her head and pushed herself up, groggy eyes struggling to stay open. “We need to deactivate the collars. Or they’ll come back. Maybe the pod’s tracked too?”

“Scheisse, good point!” Lud scratched his head. He’d probably need way more than crowbar for all the work he’d need to do. Maybe there would be an emergency toolbox somewhere. There should be. “I’ll get really busy. You sleep.”

“No… I want to be awake when you… deactivate…” exhaustion got the better out of the woman before she could conclude her line of thought.

When she would awake, hours later, she would be pleased to find her collar safely deactivated.

***

The Causer pirate ship left Hyperlight at the edge of the Zunucus system.

A few minutes later, the Exile would do the exact same.

“There they are!” Marvin checked the tracker position indicated at the infopad, then looked up and out the cockpit window to find the ship they had been chasing lazily drifting through space. “Keep your distance, we don’t want to be spotted.”

“Hey, maybe you want to buy a bigger chair for your gigantic ass so can fly the ship,” Reel whined from the pilot’s seat. “I’m already running on below-average heat emissions, jamming radar frequencies and keeping scanner activities to a minimum. If I need opinions on how to do my job, I’ll be sure to ask someone whose species can actually build spaceships.”

“They could just look out the window and see our shiny red paint job,” Marvin quipped.

“Causers are virtually colorblind, fishbrain! Aren’t you supposed to be the one who knows this stuff?”

“Someone’s moody today!”

“Maybe it’s because you interrupted my GalacTalents episode again!”

“Sorry if my species…”

“Marvin!” Jade interrupted, hands firmly gripping the man’s suited arm. “Can we talk?”

Eyeballing the orange pilot through his reflection on the windshield, Marvin followed Jade all the way back to the mess hall, where she sat at the sofa, gesturing for Marvin to join her.

“You need to cut Reel some slack,” Jade whispered. “I know he can be a handful, but he’s really coming through for us. He didn’t need to, you know?”

“I… you’re right. It’s just… he can be pretty infuriating.”

“I know, but that’s his way of coping,” Jade nested herself on the couch, hugging her knees. “This ship’s called the Exile for a reason, you know? He was once on our shoes, and his species failed. Now they’re on the verge of extinction, serving as staff on Globian resorts, mines and factories across the galaxy.”

“Goodness… I had no idea,” sitting on the couch, Marvin looked up at the TV. “How had I no idea?”

“How could you?” Jade shrugged. “His people have no government, no planet, no diplomacy… Why would the EDS even care to have them on their databanks? Why would anyone? They’re a ghost race, and one day they might be entirely forgotten.”

“That’s what awaits humanity if we fail, isn’t it?” Marvin whispered back to the woman curled up next to him.

“So don’t fail,” Reel said from the door leading to the cockpit. “The pirates are landing on a nearby world. I’m bringing us down as close as possible, but you’ll need to use those freakishly long legs of yours the rest of the way. Be ready.”

“Thanks, Reel,” Marvin nodded and smiled at the small alien. “We’ll be ready.”

***

There was no sign of intelligent life on the planet below them, but that was not saying there was no life at all. On the contrary, the Exile was welcomed into orbit by a lush forest from which a chorus of colorful birds emerged. The lack of clouds in the blue sky had forced Reel to keep a sizeable distance from the pirates on their way in, but that was paid off by the sun’s glorious unimpeded reflex on the oceans as they approached the Causer landing site on one of the fertile uncharted islands.

The pirates had touched down on a beach on the north side of the island, so the Exile came to a rest on the southern shore, and for a change Reel left the vessel with the humans.

“You coming with us?” Marvin asked, dressed on a EDS skintight jumpsuit, its black color hardly suitable for the midday sun.

“Nah, just tired of staying inside…” Reel paced over the scalding white sand until his bare feet sunk in the ocean’s water.

“Keep an ear on the comms, we might need to hurry out,” Jade ordered, leaving the ship on a camouflaged jumpsuit similar to Marvin’s. She held a laser rifle, the only weapon Ludwig hadn’t taken with himself on his doomed mission. It was strange seeing her out of her armor, but hopefully Lud would have taken good care of the gear.

And of himself.

Leaving the pilot alone by the sea, the humans started for the rocky formations of the island, most of them covered in green vegetation. As Jade led the way north into the virgin undergrowth, Marvin followed closely behind, momentarily thankful for the replacement in outfits.

“What do you think they’re doing here?” Marvin whispered.

“I don’t know.”

“Know anything about this planet?”

“No…” Jade hissed back. “Why would I?”

Marvin shrugged. “Just feel like every time we come to a new planet someone has something to say about it.”

“Those pirates will have something to say about us if we don’t keep quiet!”

Marvin was sure to stop talking, proceeding on their journey. As they climbed the hard soil of the island, the vegetation grew scarcer until the were nearly entirely exposed. At least they had the high ground, trailing over one of the heavily eroded rocky formations sticking out of the bushes.

Marvin slowed down to appreciate the view. The glimmering ocean spread for miles, dotted by other equally magnificent paradisiacal islands. Beneath them, golden sands where strange crustaceans threaded, eventually swallowed by the murmuring surf. On the untainted skies, a lonely gigantic moon edged the horizon despite the sun still hanging high above.

“If we fail and humanity’s lost, I say we retire here,” Marvin muttered. “Spend our days on alien shores…”

Jade looked back at him with fire on her eyes, but, as soon as she saw the tropical alien paradise beneath, her frown eased.

“Wouldn’t mind retiring here if we succeed, either,” she smiled. “I mean, humanity will owe us big time…”

Marvin studied the woman in front of him, ambiguous features twitching under the pinned red hair. His lips parted, words ready to leave in a daring question when Jade’s hands grabbed his jumpsuit and pulled him to the ground. She positioned herself over the man, pinning him to the plants under him.

“Quiet!” she hissed.

Marvin was still trying to understand when a golden ship unlike any he had ever seen blocked the sun, its underbelly passing right over their heads, soon followed by the roar of deafening engines. While the ship passed, a small hurricane ensued, leaves and dust dancing around the camouflaged woman. Once the dust literally settled, the ship maneuvered and landed on the northernmost portion of the island, where the pirates would be.

“Who are those guys?” Marvin asked.

“You’re really taking me for an oracle today, huh?” Jade verified that there was no more need to cover Marvin, then sat up, still on top of him. “Oh! I don’t remember giving you a gun, Chief. Come on, let’s see what the pirates are up to.”