CHAPTER 37

SHIP OF ICARUS

RUN

One minute, Ship was amazed how much information this alien was providing. The next minute, he was on the ground wondering what had just changed. It was pitch-black, so they couldn’t see a thing now that the alien holding the light had left.

He assumed Atuatuk had sensed something else approaching them. So Ship opened his mind to reach outside of the cave.

That’s when he realized why Atuatuk had led them here. The thick walls were affecting his ability to sense much. A normal Penquin would effectively be blind in here. Ship assumed Atuatuk had abilities beyond a nomal Penquin because of his experience as an Atua.

The only reason Ship sensed anything at all was because they’d built a new version of the android body, a body that had even more capabilities to sense the world around it.

Ship reached out to the world and realized there was hundreds of other Penquins nearby, many more than they had ever seen on the commune. “I think they’re being invaded,” Ship said.

“I sense it, too. Everyone being rounded up.”

Ship put his processors into overdrive. He had an innate ability to keep track of many different objects at once. He also had a deep desire to keep Icarus safe. What he had been worried about this whole time was finally happening. He didn’t want to be captured. “We need to get out of here.”

Ship and Icarus crept to the front of the cave.

There were several Penquins in heavy black armor. The armor was made up of many flat surfaces connected together. Almost as if they were designed to bounce sound waves off in random directions. They had black helmets that covered their faces—with two glowing eyes in the very center. Ship saw there was something strange going on with them. They were projecting some sort of resonance that made them hard to see exactly where they were through his magnetic sense.

Then Ship realized exactly why the armor looked like flat triangle panels all connected together. It was a material designed to bounce sound and magnetic fields. It was like camouflage but for an alien whose primary sensor used echolocation. It reminded him a lot of military equipment designed to not be detected.

Ship sensed where everyone was and waited for the perfect opportunity to run. He waited until most people nearby were turned around.

Tugging at Icarus’s arm, he dashed toward one of the buildings, planning to hide behind it before going to the next one. He knew if he could make it to the beach, they would be safe.

“Hey, you, stop,” he heard someone call.

Immediately, he sensed several of the armored men headed his way. Ship realized then there was no point in trying to hide. It didn’t matter whether the aliens were looking at them or not. The Penquins’ special ability to detect magnetic fields meant they didn’t have to rely on line of sight.

Ship sensed several bullets hit the walls around them. The walls were thick, so bullets weren’t traveling through. That was the moment Ship realized they were in trouble. These aliens were there to take everyone as prisoner—dead or alive. They were going to use every weapon at their disposal to stop them. Ship couldn’t let that happen.

Ship made a decision right then; he was going to leave behind signs that an alien had visited this world, that they had been there.

He sensed as one of the armed Penquins was just around the corner of one of the mud buildings. It was headed their way.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

He quickly programmed one of the small ants inside his flipper to discharge all its power.

He waited for the exact moment, then threw the micro-ANT hard at the face of the soldier as soon as they rounded the corner. It landed on its forehead, then nearly electrocuted the alien.

Ship hoped he hadn’t killed it. He was guessing the right voltage but decided it was better to lean toward too much electricity rather than risk it not working and them getting caught.

The other armed Penquins obviously sensed their fallen comrade and began running toward them.

Ship felt the bullet fly through the wall just behind him.

“Run,” Icarus called from behind him.

Ship sprinted between the mud huts, moving faster than any Penquin could move.

He ran toward the beach, focusing his mind on using his other senses in order to find the fastest way to the beach.

They turned left, then right, avoiding alien soldiers, sprinting this way and that.

“Jump, Ship, jump!” Icarus called out as they reached the edge of the beach, where they could escape into the water.

Ship felt his leg crack as it was caught in some sort of device. Ship looked down at his leg; his leg was almost cut in half by a nasty device, exactly like a bear trap. The only reason his leg wasn’t completely off was because of the reinforcements inside. Normal bone wouldn’t have stood a chance.

Ship cursed himself for not seeing this obvious trap. It was invisible to his other sensors but was clearly visible to his eyes.

Icarus started pulling the trap apart.

“Don’t,” Ship said because he’d already tried that. The trap had a locking mechanism, so his leg wasn’t coming out unless he had a key. “Jump in the water.”

Three armed aliens with long tubelike devices—he assumed those were guns—were almost on top of them.

Ship started his self-destruct sequence as he shoved Icarus, forcing him to get going.

They began shooting as Icarus did what he was told and jumped over the sea of traps.

Ship watched as Icarus made it to the water—the shots not doing as much damage as the aliens expected. He knew as long as one of them made it off the planet, they would be able to re-create the other from backup. He would lose the memories of his time at this commune. But he wouldn’t be gone forever.

It wouldn’t be him exactly who was brought back to life. But that version of him would believe it was him, even if this version of himself was dead.

Ship shook his head. It wasn’t yet time to give up. He wasn’t going down without a fight. He could self-destruct at any time, but he shouldn’t give up prematurely. He ordered the joints in his knees to disconnect. As his body began to tear itself apart from the leg joint, he lay on his back and pointed both flippers up into the air.

He programmed the six remaining micro-ANTs to fly out and attack the nearest soldiers. They flew out one by one, eliminating the nearest enemies. But there were a lot more of them on their way to his position.

Ship’s leg joints had been severed, and he yanked hard to remove the flesh and tissue.

The amputated Ship began to hop down the beach, avoiding all the nearby traps.

He wondered whether these aliens had a movie similar to The Terminator because he looked like the Terminator hopping along this rocky beach with his leg blown off.

He was shot more than a dozen times before finally reaching the water.

He dived in and immediately began kicking his leg. It was slow going, but Icarus waited for him.

Icarus grabbed hold of Ship, and they swam together, quickly covering the distance to their base where Lex was.

They needed to leave as soon as they reached the base. Ship began making a mental plan of everything they needed to complete in order to leave the base quickly. They could probably escape leaving half their things there. They didn’t need to pack anything up. Besides, Ship had already left evidence behind. Several ANTs were now in the aliens’ possession. If they didn’t know it was humans who visited them, they would within a few hours.

After a good hour and a half of traveling with neither of them speaking to each other, Icarus finally calmed down from the rush of everything enough to speak with Ship. “Do you think they were coming for us? Or was it just a coincidence?”

“If we were their target, they probably would have come with more firepower.”

“There were enough of them there. Maybe they didn’t know what we were.”

“They definitely know what we are now. I left a bunch of ANTs there. And if they don’t notice those, they’re going to notice the leg that isn’t bleeding on the beach.”

Visibility in the water was low, but through Ship’s new alien organ he could sense they were approaching the area where Lex was. It wasn’t visible to his echolocation; it was well hidden after all. He knew they were close because he’d memorized the landscape around them.

Then the world around him began to shake. He wondered whether he was in an earthquake. The ground below him wasn’t shaking. Oh no, he thought as he realized what was going on. A pressure wave was moving toward them quickly.

Lex had self-destructed.

There was only one reason for him to do that. The aliens knew where their base was.