The Void Beyond by P W Hillard

Author:P W Hillard [Hillard, P W]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-01-31T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

The three of them stood around the tall alien, watching it silently. The alien itself was gazing around the bridge, taking in the sights surrounding it. Seemingly this was as much a first for it as it was for them. Jake had joined them, EVA pack discarded in the corner of the room. Dragged back with him rather than being taken back to the shuttle. He didn’t want to wait, how could he? A chance at meeting a real-life alien was too great to pass up.

“He’s a tall fella, isn’t he?” Jake said. He crouched slightly, examining the alien’s thin suit. It was fascinating, up close it seemed to be made of millions of tiny hexagons somehow connected at the edges. It was flexible, the gold shimmering as it moved under the alien’s breath. “The shape of those attack ships makes sense now.”

“Yeah, guess they’re like us. Wanting to build their robots in their own image,” Morgan said. She was eating an uncooked hotdog, jar in hand. Precious salvage from one of the storage rooms. She placed it into her mouth, tearing off one half with a feral bite.

“Oh, it’s no robot. Those things are ships of some kind. This guy flew here in one.”

"And you know that how?" Morgan shook the remaining half of the hot dog accusingly as she spoke. It flopped about, brine shaking off into a misty cloud suspended around it.

Jake smiled, a guilty apprehensive smirk. “Well, when I was outside…”

“On your unauthorised spacewalk? Don’t think I’ve forgotten Jake, you’ll get chewed out later.”

"Yes," Jake said, tugging at the collar of his suit. "Well, whilst I was doing that, I found the ship. It's parked in one of the lower hangers with the cockpit open. Seems like he forced his way in, really bent the hanger door. I reckon that’s how their weapons work, some kind of kinetic force. Lots of little dings on the outside of here, and of course there’s the Newport. It’s kind of like getting punched. Really, really hard.”

“Hard enough to bend steel? Jesus, that’s a thought.”

“Maybe that’s why the gun sticks?” Charlie asked. He unholstered the pistol, it’s hold releasing as he grabbed the grip. He examined it in his hands. “Maybe whatever hits hard, can also like, suck hard?”

“Two things,” Morgan said. “Don’t wave that around. Jesus some trigger discipline please Charlie. And second please never repeat the phrase ‘suck hard’. So, is that what you wanted to talk to us about, Jake, the alien ship?” Morgan and Charlie had returned to the bridge before Jake, bringing their lanky captive with them. Jake’s news had quickly been forgotten, replaced by questions about the alien.

Jake sighed. He placed one hand on the chair nearest him, swivelling it around. He launched himself into the air with a slight hop, before clasping one of the armrests and pulling himself into a seated position. "No, it's not. You remember that stuff I was talking about, in the main reactor?"

“That weird grey shit you

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