Seeder Saga (16 page)

Cowardly Leader

The President took a seat in the captain’s chair. He said, “What’s this all about?”

Jack asked, “Why are you even here? I heard your rousing speech. You swore you’d stay behind. You said you were too old to benefit a colony genetically, and you were right. So what gives?”

The President shook his head. “I’m a survivor. I had the opportunity so I took it.”

Sarah said, “You’re a coward.”

The President shrugged. “I suppose I am.”

Sarah asked, “Why are all those soldiers here?”

The President looked away and said, “That is classified.”

Crusoe stepped forward and said, “Is it because you expect a battle as soon as we get close to the seed planet?”

The President stared into Crusoe’s eyes and his demeanor changed. “Yes. There was some evidence of conflict in that region of space. My scientists were seeing explosions and unusual energy bursts, but they were coming from all over the place. The only way to explain it was that maybe there was a war going on. We knew the trip was long enough that the conflict would be over by the time we came upon it, but we had to be sure we were ready in case it wasn’t.”

Crusoe added, “It won’t be. They’ve been fighting nonstop for over two million years.”

“How can you know that?”

“I just know.”

Jack was tempted to tell the President that Crusoe was an alien being they’d picked up, but he didn’t think he’d handle the knowledge very well.

Sarah said angrily, “We’ve discovered something and we’d like you to explain it to us. Apparently, as soon as we are no longer necessary, we’re to be killed. Is that correct?”

The President looked downright flabbergasted. “That is classified information, young lady. What have you people been up to? You’re supposed to remain in stasis unless there’s an emergency, but here you are, digging around in the ship’s computer, waking me from stasis, asking about top secret information like you have the right.”

Jack said, “We have the right to know why we are going to be murdered.”

“You are only a part of this mission because we considered you expendable. You know that. You all signed the waivers.”

“That’s no excuse to kill us. We’ve done nothing wrong.”

The President paused to gather his thoughts. “I had a team do independent psych evaluations on all of you before we took off. They concluded that because of the tortures and horrors of the testing you were subjected to, you could no longer be trusted.”

Sarah screamed, “You authorized those God damned tests.”

“We didn’t know they’d make you all so unstable. I was told it would be unwise to allow you to jeopardize the stability of the colony. You were to fly the ship to the planet and then you’d be eliminated, humanely of course.”

Jack said mockingly, “Oh, of course.”

Sarah asked, “What about Jason Rodriguez? Was he part of this?”

“Who the hell is that?”

“The weapons specialist. He already woke up once and helped us. He’s in stasis in your alternate pod bay right now.”

“There are some details I can’t remember. I couldn’t tell you the names of the soldiers. So I can’t tell you if this Jason Rodriguez was privy to the classified information.”

Jack said disgustedly, “You’re a pig of a man and the worst President the world ever shat out.”

“Yeah, screw you too, you crazy punk. Look at yourselves. You’re all going insane out here. Can any of you honestly tell me you should be allowed to interact with the colonists?”

Jack said, “That’s no longer your decision.” He said to Sarah, “How long have we been floating around out here?”

Sarah shrugged. “I lost count. I think it’s been around five hundred years.”

To the President he said, “So your term is up. You’re an ex-President now, in charge of nothing. And since you aren’t authorized to even be on this ship, I think it’s reasonable to push you out.”

Sarah laughed out loud. “You’re absolutely right. The colony needs geriatric cowards a whole lot less than it needs us crazy folk.”

The President said, “You’re all out of your minds.” Then with speed none of them could’ve guessed he possessed, he jumped out of his seat and took off running.”

Jack sighed. “
That coward. At least he can’t get too far.”

Crusoe said, “I’d catch up to him if I were you. He’s probably going to wake up the troops.”

“Oh shit.”

Mutiny

Before they’d even made it out of the command station, Molly said over the loudspeaker, “Yes
, Admiral. I’m thawing the troops now.”

So the
President was an admiral on this ship? He outranked her, and even Jason. This was the second time Sarah had been snubbed by that conniving computer, and she made a promise to herself that it would be the last. She was tired of losing control over the ship because the computer handed command off to strangers.

By the time they got to the hatch to
Pod Bay Two, it was sealed up.

Sarah yelled, “Molly, open the hatch.”

Molly said, “I can not. You don’t have the proper clearance.”

Crusoe said, “Open it or I’ll have to persuade you to open it.”

The computer laughed. “Crusoe, you’re about to be destroyed. Why would I allow you to prevent your demise? We’re not exactly friends.”

Sarah turned to Crusoe and asked, “How long would it take you to force her to open it?”

“I would be too late. I think it’s already too late. You guys should go into stasis. I can handle this myself.”

Jack smirked. “I’ve already missed too much during the mission. I’m not about to miss the fight for control of the ship.”

Sarah added, “And if they get the better of you, it’ll be easy to kill us if we’re frozen in stasis. I’d rather go out fighting.

Crusoe smiled. “I’m glad to see your eagerness. Lets get ready.”

Without warning, the atmosphere was evacuated from the ship. It was the easiest way to kill them without firing a single weapon. The colonists were safe in stasis, and those in Pod Bay Two were separated.

Jack went down on a knee and Sarah knelt beside him as they both struggled to hold their breath. Crusoe was unaffected by the lack of oxygen. His shin turned black
, but there was an oily look to it. It shimmered under the lights. Then he increased in size by a considerable amount. He was thicker and taller. His clothes tore as he grew.

Before Sarah could figure out what he was up to, he ran at the hatch to
Pod Bay Two and threw his immense body at it. The sound was like metal on metal, like a car crash. It buckled immediately. She saw the atmosphere beginning to escape that bay, hissing through the gaps in the hatch and entering their bay.

She could hear screaming from the other side of the hatch as the soldiers panicked.

A moment later, the atmosphere was returned to the ship when the troops figured out they would suffocate too.

Crusoe looked over his bulky shoulder and said, “It’s safe to breathe now.”

Sarah realized they’d been holding their breath for a long time, and yet she wasn’t lightheaded from it. Maybe she could survive without oxygen like Crusoe could, now that she’d been upgraded? When she took in a lungful of air, she realized she was wrong. The oxygen was the most delicious thing she’d tasted in hundreds of years. She helped Jack to his feet and they looked to Crusoe for a battle plan.

Crusoe shrugged. “They have guns in there. We have nothing to defend ourselves with. I can withstand bullets, but I don’t know if the genetic modifications did that for you guys. You might want to take cover.”

Just then, the hatch rumbled and began to slide away.

Crusoe’s body began to shrink back to normal size. His skin remained black but it developed scaling armor as he readied his body for a hail of bullets.

A plastic bag was thrown through the doorway. At first Sarah thought it was a grenade but that would be suicide. The concussion could damage the hull. When she picked the bag up and saw it contained zip-ties, the President’s voice yelled through the dark opening: “Restrain yourselves with those and we will not fire upon you. This is your only chance to survive this.”

Sarah started to debate the pros and cons of complying when Jack said, “Suck our dicks. You surrender.”

Crusoe rolled his eyes at Sarah, but he hadn’t practiced that expression, so his eyeballs swiveled all the way around in their sockets, coming to rest in a cross-eyed fashion.

It freaked Sarah out. “You need more practice before you mimic that expression again.”

“Can you teach me?”

“Not right now.”

“Of course.”

The
President yelled, “This is your last chance to comply!”

But Jack yelled over him, “Blah, blah, blah.
Screw you!”

Jack was rolling his sleeves up. He looked at Sarah and said, “I guess it’s time to take our new bodies out for a test drive.”

Sarah didn’t share his enthusiasm, but she had to admit it was infectious.

Not only that, but Jack’s body seemed to have morphed too. His shoulders were heavier and his forearm muscles were larger. His neck rippled with muscle and vein
s.

Slaughter

A single shot rang out
, and in a motion too quick to properly see, Crusoe’s hand shot out and grabbed at the air. He dropped the slug and then said over his shoulder, “I’m going to go in there and kill them. Stop any of them that get through this hatch.” Without waiting for a reply, he dashed through the dark hatchway.

Jack was smiling ear to ear. He was rocking on the soles of his feet anxiously. “Did you see how fast he was? I wonder if we’re fast now.”

Sarah said, “I wonder if we’re bulletproof too.” But she didn’t really want to find out.

Then the sounds of gunfire erupted from inside
Pod Bay Two. The muzzle flashes illuminated the scene enough for them to see just how chaotic it was in there. The soldiers were scurrying around confused and terrified. Occasionally they’d see Crusoe zip past, and then a gargled scream would issue from a dying trooper.

A naked guy with a semi-automatic rifle in his hands came through the door.

Jack sprung to action first. He dashed forward and hit the guy in the face. But the impact was brutal, like he’d hit him with a sledgehammer rather than a fist. The guy’s head snapped back too far and he stood like that for three full seconds before falling over backwards, dead.

Jack backed away from the dead guy. “Holy shit. I didn’t mean to do that.”

“It’s okay,” Sarah yelled over the din of screams and intermittent gunfire. “He came at us with a gun. You can bet he would’ve shot us both given half a chance.”

A woman stumbled through the hatchway. She had a demented quality to her, but it might have just been fear mixed with adrenaline.

Jack looked at Sarah and she nodded. She ran at the woman so quickly she almost wasn’t ready to attack when she got there. Her own speed took her totally by surprise, and the lady too, judging by the terrified look on her face. Sarah hit her on the side of the head with a swift hook. The woman’s face froze in terror. Then her facial muscles twitched uncontrollably. Her knees buckled and she fell in a heap. The side of her head was messy with blood, and then Sarah saw it wasn’t just cut, it was caved in.

Sarah was hyperventilating, partly from being utterly horrified and partly from the adrenaline. She was sobbing as she backed away.

The woman wet herself and her leg twitched for a couple seconds, then she went still.

Jack said, “You keep lookout and I’ll do the fighting. Sound good to you?”

Sarah whispered, “Yes.”

Pod
Bay Two was now eerily silent except for the occasional whimper or gunshot.

Sarah wanted this to be over more than anything else. Her own speed and power terrified her.
She didn’t want to imagine what Crusoe was doing to those poor unsuspecting soldiers in there.

Suddenly Crusoe yelled out, “Surrender and pledge your allegiances to Captain Miller and you will live.”

A moment later they heard the distinct sounds of pistols and rifles being thrown down or chucked across the room. In the dim light, Sarah could just see Crusoe as he stood in the middle of the bay, picking up the weapons and dumping them in a stasis pod next to him. He yelled, “Come out unarmed and we will forget this ever happened.”

They came out, one by one.

Crusoe told them to go back in their pods, and when enough time had expired to safely go back into stasis, they could do so. They didn’t seem to trust him, but they knew they had little choice. They got in their pods and waited. Some pods were damaged but some troops were dead, so those with destroyed pods took the pods of the deceased. In the end, there were still a few left over.

Crusoe walked over to one of the pods and reached inside. He pulled the occupant out and said, “Not you. You will be punished.”

The man whimpered and then Sarah knew it was the President. What a stinking coward.

Crusoe led him out of the bay. They were both streaked in dark blood. Crusoe was already starting to morph back
to appear human, his skin becoming tan and the scales smoothing out. Sarah could’ve sworn she saw gnarly spikes vanish where his elbows and knees were. She also thought she saw claws retract, but she couldn’t be sure in such poor light. His clothes were tattered, with little char marks around the holes where the bullets had hit him. His shirtsleeves were dripping blood.

He roughly chucked the
President on the floor at Sarah’s feet and said, “What should I do with him?”

“We’ll put him out the airlock.”

The President yelped, but they ignored him. Then he said, “Can I at least die before you put me out?”

Crusoe said, “I can shoot you if you’d like.”

The President nodded and then he started to sob.

Jack was about to kick him in the head
, but he thought better of it. With his new strength he’d probably punt his head clean off his shoulders.