Final Days: Escape by Jasper T. Scott & Nathan Hystad

Author:Jasper T. Scott & Nathan Hystad [Scott, Jasper T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Anthem Press
Published: 2020-08-03T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-ONE

Kendra

They entered the ship from a hatch near the center of it. Kendra estimated the vessel was at least two kilometers long, with only a quarter of it visible from above the lake. They floated inside the compact room with their guide. The lights embedded in the walls let off a dim glow that shifted with the rippling water, and the alien’s voice entered her mind.

“Don’t be startled. We will purge the water now.” Before she had a chance to ask what that meant, a loud sucking noise sounded all around them as the water level decreased. Once their heads cleared the surface, Andrew slipped his breathing device off and spat out a mouthful of water.

“Did you see that?” he asked, eyes wide. “This place is huge.”

“What’s your name?” Kendra asked their guide.

“I’m Belidar. And you?” he asked.

Kendra told him theirs as the last of the water funneled out, and their feet settled on the grated floor.

“Pleased to meet you, Kendra and Andrew.” His words were crisp in her mind, and she wondered how they had this level of technology. “If you’d follow me.”

The white door slid open at the press of a button, and they walked into a tall corridor, the bulkheads smooth and green. She’d almost expected the ship to be full of water, but was glad to find there was somehow breathable air down here. There were a few more aliens nearby, wandering around with flat tablet-like screens strapped to their arms.

“How long have you been here?” Andrew asked Belidar.

“Two generations. Our energy cell was damaged in the crash to the surface, and we’ve been waiting for a long time to find a replacement. We’re about to retrieve it so we can go home,” Belidar told them.

“An energy cell? Where are you going to find it?” Kendra asked.

“I think you know,” he replied. He led them through the corridor, and they eventually entered a huge room on the right. There were hundreds of tanks here, each filled with water, and a few of the aliens were checking them, tapping away at their tablets with webbed fingers.

“You’re really doing this. You’re leaving,” Kendra said, staring at the rows of life-support tanks.

“We are.”

“When?” Andrew asked.

“As soon as our team returns with the fuel source.”

“You have to take us with you. We can help,” Andrew said.

The being shook his head, jowls and neck fins jostling around. “We cannot. We have no need of your assistance, and there are too many of you. Unless you mean just the two of you?”

“What about ten?” Kendra asked, quickly estimating the number of people they were tightly aligned with. She felt guilty narrowing a thousand people down to two handfuls, but it would be easier to negotiate saving a few, and that was still better than saving no one.

The alien’s neck fins fluttered. “It is too risky. We cannot afford any delays.”

“How did you arrive here? How did you make this ship?” Kendra asked, changing the topic as they walked through the cavernous room.

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