Junkyard Veterans by Jamie McFarlane

Author:Jamie McFarlane [McFarlane, Jamie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: military, SF
ISBN: 9798500615824
Google: yqtrzgEACAAJ
Amazon: B0948RPBK1
Publisher: self-published
Published: 2021-05-07T00:00:00+00:00

"When do they feed us?" AJ asked, his stomach grumbling loud enough it caused Jayne to glance back at him.

"I haven't seen our captors, yet. Drink more water, it should help that hunger feeling," she said.

"I was hoping they'd eventually show themselves."

"They will when we get to where they're taking us," she said.

"Did you see anyone before you were captured?" AJ asked.

"No. I was just coming to let you onto campus when I was drugged."

"How were things going?" AJ asked. "Did they have things for you to do? Or was this whole thing some sort of sham?"

"I'm not sure," she said. "I was definitely participating in activities, but it felt a little off. I chalked that up to poor translations."

AJ nodded. Feeling off when surrounded by aliens was a normal enough state. "I think we've transitioned into jump space, so if we're getting out of this mess, it's probably time to start making some waves."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, suddenly interested.

"Think about it," AJ said. "How often have we been imprisoned since this whole thing started?"

"You mean from the moment you met Beverly?"

"Right."

"Three or four times?"

"Counting now, this makes four. Although we also broke into a prison," AJ said, pulling off the soft sandals provided by the still unseen aliens. "Not sure if you'd count that or not."

"What are you doing?"

"At some point, a person needs to acknowledge the likelihood that all these events are not a coincidence," he said, picking at the rough skin at the back of his heels.

"You're saying this imprisonment is related to the others? That doesn’t make sense," Jayne said.

"Ahh, there it is," AJ said, pulling a thin strip of material embedded between layers of his skin. "And I can't tell you just how funny that feels."

"AJ?"

"Oh, right ... no. The relationship between our … er, mishaps … is actually us. We do things that cause aliens to want to put us in cages," he said, spreading his hands to encompass their current cell. "I guess I called it early on. Too many aliens see us as raccoons or wild animals that they need to cage.”

AJ switched feet and picked at his other heel. "You know, I'd kind of expected that Beverly would be around when I did this and she'd make it feel less creepy."

"What is that?" Jayne asked, eyeing what looked like long, thin pieces of tape.

"This is very difficult to detect," he said, walking to the glassy wall that separated them from a narrow hallway. "Beverly grew it in my foot. It's a binary explosive, low yield but super flexible." He stretched the tape in a long arc next to a seam in the glass.

"AJ, they're gassing us," she said, pointing at a small plume being released from the ceiling.

"Hold your breath," AJ said, applying the second strip of material atop the first and rushing back to Jayne and Greybeard, covering them as best he could. Ten seconds later, a loud pop was followed by a sound like dominos falling on the floor.

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