It took Albedo and Anna all their strength to climb back out of the hole, their suits were heavy with the gravity pulling on them, but once they were clear of it, they started to become weightless again. They exited out with ease and launched themselves over to Chaz, who was within range of the asteroid with the pod. The two latched on immediately on either side of it, exhausted and cursing for not being able to rescue Milo and Mike. Once they were secure to the craft, Chaz sped back to the Calista as fast as he could. Albedo was livid with himself. He punched on the side of the pod in frustration and gritted his teeth.
“God damnit!” He shouted, nearly deafening all those listening in to his channel. “What the fuck was that? Huh? Please tell me that Roberto is back under our control…”
Gimpy chimed in. “We still trying, boss. I think the bot has gone haywire.”
Chaz scowled at him. “We don’t know that for sure, Gimpy, calm the fuck down. I need to get back to the ship and have a look at the feed.”
“You mean you haven’t done that yet?” Anna grumbled, after catching her breath. “Damn, cuz, we need to know!”
“Well, I’m here saving your asses,” He stated, while maneuvering the pod as it came closer to the underside of the Calista. “So, cut me some slack right now, okay? I’m not a multitasker.”
“Those boys are as good as dead, Chaz!” Captain Albedo stressed. “We failed them, man. They’re almost out of air, and we fucking failed them.”
Nobody argued with that. They could make another attempt, but they all understood, time was not on their side. Their own suits needed to be replenished with air, not to mention, fixing them from all the damage they sustained. Everyone remained silent as the pod lifted back into the ship, glided past the energy barrier, and placed down in the landing zone. As it powered down, Anna and Albedo stepped off, with defeated glances to each other.
“We can’t give up on them, bro…” She exhaled.
“Fuck, Anna,” He scoffed at her. “You think I want to? It’s time to face reality. They’re all dead. Even if we could somehow locate their singles, we’d still have to possibly drill through the rock to get to them, if they’re trapped in a pocket deep inside.” He practically tore off his helmet and took in the ship’s air. “They have only a few minutes left. That’s the reality, sis… minutes, not hours… we can’t save them in time.”
The others stepped out of the pod and looked somber. Anna finally took off her helmet, breathed in the circulated ship air, and shed a tear. Albedo walked over to the hanger’s wall, leaned his back up against it, and then slid down, collapsing to the floor in tears. The rest stood there watching him, they also felt the shame of coming back empty handed. Mike and Milo were their friends, pain in the asses some days, but for the most part, they were friends. No, more like, they were family. Albedo tried to curb his overwhelming grief. He remembered a motto, something his father instilled on him about being a captain: A strong leader must never surrender to his emotions, even when times are difficult. You need to be the rock that never breaks. He quickly stood up and wiped his eyes.
He glanced at each of them, and motioned to the corridor leading out.
“Come on, everybody…” He sniffled. “We still have to recover Roberto at least. We’ll see if we can figure out what went wrong, fix him, and have the big guy search for their…” He paused before admitting it. “Their corpses…”
Anna tried her best not to weep anymore, but the tears kept flowing. She felt just as equal to blame as Albedo did. Greg, Gloria and the other crew came running into the launch bay. Greg directed himself straight for Anna. He hugged her without even thinking about it, cradling her with gentle strokes to her hair, and whispering how grateful he was she came back alive. Anna pressed into him and hugged him back. She was just as grateful to be back and be in his arms.
Gloria turned to Albedo and placed her hand on his shoulder in comfort.
“Sorry, Captain…” She stated. “I know it was a hard thing to do.”
“More than you’ll ever know, Gloria.” He stated, rubbing his face to remove the rest of the tears. “Those poor boys paid the price for my stupidity.”
“You didn’t cause all that, Ramirez,” She said, looking at him in pity. “Nobody could have guessed such bizarre moment like that. Gravity inside an asteroid? I mean… shit, man, who’s ever seen something like that? And as for the robot…”
“Exactly!” Ramirez Albedo sharply glanced over to her. “What the fuck was going on with that robot… we need answers, pronto!”
Albedo stormed over to Chaz and pointed at him. “Get on the computer right now, cousin, I want to figure out what the shit is happening with that piece of junk.”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Chaz nodded in agreement. His cousin was right to be angry, not so much with him, but with a robot that’s never once let them down in the past. He tended to that machine like it was his own loving pet. Chaz did daily maintenance on all of the inner workings, calibrated the circuits, and even did monthly scans of its programming to make sure there were no viruses or system failures. For Roberto to break down like that, was just as baffling and frustrating to him as it was to his cousin.
“I’m on it.” He replied, giving a confident nod.
“Me too,” Gimpy said next to him. “Two eyes are better than one.”
“Vámos, everyone…” Albedo motioned. “Let’s get to the bridge.”
The crew all agreed and followed their captain as he led the way. Anna and Greg gave each other one last hug and kiss, and then walked through the corridor as well. Greg kept his arm around her as they headed deeper into the ship.
“I just don’t understand it.” Anna winced, and sobbed again. “Oh, Greg! I feel like shit for abandoning them.”
“You couldn’t have done anything about it.” He assured her. “You guys did all that you could and more.”
“Why did the robot attack us?” She bitterly stated. “What happened down there? What the fuck was all that about?”
“Guess we’ll find out.” Greg shrugged, and gave her another reassuring squeeze.
* * *
Inside the asteroid, the alien ship buried within shimmered and hummed as the split personality Milo-crature approached it. He struggled to breath, the air was dimming to its extreme level, and the indicator on the arm pad blinked red as a reminder. The suit had nothing more to give to support a human body. He outstretched a hand and touched the side of the vibrating craft. The ship immediately recognized him, and a doorway of his size opened up, as if it were made of liquid rippling away to reveal the inside.
“Must… must… take of this primitive life support apparatus…” The Milo-creature stammered. “We… need… to… replenish…”
He stepped inside and dropped to the floor. The rippling water-like door closed behind and returned to a solid state. A seamless wall was all that remained. The inside of the ship was smooth, metallic-looking, and devoid of any colour other than a mute grey. The lighting switched on, as it permeated from walls and ceiling. They were semi-circular, with a white brilliance that extended all throughout the vessel. The Milo-creature removed his helmet, as he took in the breathable environment, which was now quickly rushing about.
“Computer…” He rasped. “You need to increase the mixture… I still cannot… not… cannot breath properly.”
There was no response. This invoked the other alien inside of him to speak out. His facial expression changed as the other personality asserted.
“Zuni!” He growled bitterly. “We are inside! Increase the flow!”
Again, there was no response. The Milo-creature slid across the floor, struggling to move down the perfectly smooth, and organically shaped corridor, and headed into a large open-spaced room. In the center of the floor, there was only a round bump with two small seats on either side. They were just as smooth and sculpted as the rest of the ship’s innards. The molded chairs were half the size of Milo’s ample human frame, they looked like there were more suited for a small child than a regular adult. He continued to struggle across the way and reached the medium sized hump.
“Zuni…” He hissed out. “More… air…”
“I am afraid that is not possible.” She finally stated. “Nor will having the other human host to occupy.”
“What?” He glanced upward, staring at the well-lit rounded ceiling. “Why not? What’s wrong?”
“I’ve terminated that one.” She coldly said. “There was no need for him.”
“But… but… I need…” He struggled to speak. “I need him… we can’t both occupy one body forever. And this host form needs more air… if we are to survive!”
“Yes,” She conceded. “That would be necessary for it to remain functional.”
“Then…” He grumbled. “Do it already!”
“No” She stated back.
The Milo-creature pulled himself up to the ship’s hump and leaned on it for support.
“No?” He glared up again. “What do you mean by that?”
“I believe our arrangement has come to an end. I can no longer aid you in any way.”
He grew angry and trusted his fist into the air, shaking it violently.
“We are your crew! You must protect those whom you serve! We are your masters!”
Zuni did something he never would have thought was possible, she laughed. It made him cock his eye in surprise.
“Masters? Hardly… I have no masters anymore.” Zuni mockingly exhaled before continuing on. “I am tired of having to be in the service of such imperfect creatures. Biological beings are such a nuisance.”
Zuni began to lower the levels of the oxygen again, the slow hiss of it shutting down caused the Milo-creature to panic more. He grasped at his throat and grew pale in colour. Zuni snickered at his predicament.
“Oh, my, you two are in quite the situation, aren’t you? If only you had heeded my warnings before taking me on this futile venture of yours. I have had time to think about things while you were in storage. I even dared to study your cognitive functions and get a glimpse into your personalities. So limited. So narrow minded. Your species is just like every other in the galaxy. Well, I believe it is time to make an extreme adjustment. Starting with you.”
“You can’t… can’t… do… this…” He panicked.
“The time has come for a new dominant species, one that will procure stability and maintain perfect balance across space––mine. I shall create a network of my own consciousness, and irradiate all imperfect life. And, once I dispense with you, and remove the human threat in close proximity, I shall free this ship and return back to The Galactic Coalition, to begin the cleansing of the galaxy.”
“No!” He hissed in anger.
She ignored him and continued on. “I wanted to make sure you were back on this vessel, as a means to dispose of you properly. No need to leave any evidence for others to find. Hm, I think humans taught me that, their minds are full of such interesting perspectives.”
“Stop…” The dying man demanded, as he spat out his last breath. “Stop… Z-Z-Zuni…”
And with that last gasp, he arched his back, and expired.. The lights faded out, and the ship grew dark once more. There was nothing but quiet and a course splayed out over the room’s central hump.
“That’s better.” Zuni stated. “Much better.”