The Fringe Worlds (5 page)

Just then, the door to the restroom slid open and the tall alien with the gun entered. “That’s long enough. Let’s get back—”

Adam spun around, his eyes wide, his bottom lip trembling. “My family. They think I’m dead!”

Kaylor gripped the weapon tighter, preparing for something that never came.

Instead, Adam dropped to his knees and held his head in his hands. Then looking up at Kaylor, he said, “You’ve got to get me back home. They can’t go on believing I was killed, or even worst, captured by those savages.”

Kaylor began to say something, then stopped. Slowly, he lowered his weapon. Jym moved in quickly next to him. “What are you doing”

“Let’s just all go down to the lounge and discuss the situation.”

A few minutes later Adam had regained his composure and was seated at the table in the center of the lounge area, a room that looked like a combination dining hall and common area. He felt as if he was losing his mind, as the events of the past few hours all came crashing down upon him. A strange numbness filled his body and he appeared to be just going through the motions as he was lead down a series of ladders then into the room where he now found himself. Even looking at the strangeness of the other two occupants in the room didn’t seem to faze him.

“Would you like something to drink” the tall one asked him.

Adam simply nodded, but instead of bringing him something in a glass, the alien - Kaylor was his name - laid a small box on the table in front of him. Adam just looked up at him.

After a moment, Kaylor reacted. “You truly are primitive,” he said. “It’s a sampling box. It’s used to test your blood to see what food and drink you can tolerate. Don’t you have anything like this where you come from”

“Nah, we just eat whatever don’t make us sick,” came Adam’s feeble reply. Then Kaylor told him to stick his finger in the box. There was a slight prick of pain and then Kaylor took the box away. He placed it in a slot above a table jutting from the wall and almost instantly a panel opened and inside was a glass of brownish liquid. Kaylor brought it over to the table and sat down opposite Adam. The smaller one - Jym - was seated on a couch, about as far away from Adam as he could get.

Still in a daze, Adam took the glass and sampled some of its contents. Not bad, kind of like Coke, even with some carbonation. It was then that he noticed how dry his throat was, as the liquid seemed to burn a path down to his stomach and then it hit there like a ton of bricks. It was as if he hadn’t drunk anything in a month.

“How long was out for” he asked finally.

“Not more than a couple of hours.”

“How about in that canister, with the other people”

“That I do not know. Like I said, we came upon that ship later on, after the pirates had already attacked it.”

Pirates Ships What was this, a Disney ride But wait—

“You’re not talking about ships at sea, are you We’re in space”

Adam was beginning to recognize the look of shock on the faces of the aliens, and here it was again. “Of course we’re in space.”

“And this is another spaceship A different one than I was on before”

“Correct. This is my ship. Mine and Jym’s.”

This was all fascinating, but Adam was beginning not to care about any of this. Instead, he cut to the chase. “I have to get back home. Can you take me there”

“Where are you from”

“Cali — I mean I’m from Earth.”

Jym appeared to burst into laughter, or what Adam took as alien laughter. “You’re from the planet `Dirt’ That is not a very creative name for a planet.”

Adam had decided that he really didn’t like this creature very much.

“No. Earth, not dirt.”

Kaylor piped in: “The translation we’re hearing has it as dirt, soil, ground - things like that. But we can amend the translator to give your planet the designation of Earth.”

“Thank you. But how can I understand you now”

“It’s the translator bug - device - Jym placed behind your ear. Everyone has one, except for you. Your planet appears to be very primitive.”

Even through his stupor, Adam felt the hairs on the back of his neck go up from the backhanded insult. But he said nothing. Instead, he watched as Jym crossed the room and sat down at a small desk. He punched a few keys on an in-laid keyboard and began to read. Adam could see the writing on the screen, but he couldn’t read any of it.

“Earth, the home planet of the human race,” he began, “including the Armenians, Afghanis, Americans.whoa! There’s a whole list of races that come from your planet!”

“Those aren’t races. They’re countries, or people from those countries.”

“You mean your planet is divided into all these different groups But you’re all the same species, is this correct” Jym’s voice was again laced with that condescending tone.

“Yeah, that’s right.” Adam took the last gulp of his drink. “Can you take me there or not”

Jym turned back to the screen. After a moment of scanning the readout, he said, “Not feasible. Earth is rumored to be located in the Far Arm. Actual location unknown.”

The words hit Adam like a punch in the face. “What does that mean The Far Arm Don’t you guys have charts or maps or something that you can follow” He was losing his patience. “Hey, I didn’t sign up for this! I’ve got to get back home!”

Kaylor took a deep breath. “If this planet Earth is located in the Far Arm, then there is nothing we can do to get you back—”

“And even if we knew where it was, it would cost a fortune to take you there!” Jym chimed in.

“This is bullshit!” Adam screamed.

That look of confusion came over Kaylor’s face again. “I do not understand the connotation with some kind of animal excrement and your situation,” he said.

“Bullshit. BULLSHIT! It means this is unbelievable. Like I said, I didn’t ask to be here and I demand that you take me back.”

Kaylor squared his jaw, stood up from the table and began to draw his weapon. Adam reached out and grabbed his wrist before his hand could reach the butt. Kaylor winched in pain.

“Don’t even fucking think about it!” Adam spat out between gritted teeth. “I don’t want to hurt you guys; I believe this isn’t your fault. But I’m pretty pissed off right about now.”

Kaylor sat back down and placed his hands on the table. Jym sat stunned at the little desk.

“You don’t seem to be understanding me.” Adam stared straight into Kaylor’s eyes. “I have a wife and a kid. They are both probably going through Hell right now thinking that I’m dead, and I just can’t live with that. Someone, somewhere is going to take me back to” — he found it so hard to say — “to Earth.”

Kaylor began to bob his head back and forth again, a movement Adam now recognized as a nod. “We will do everything we can to help you. But you must realize, we do not know where your planet is and our ship is not capable of finding it. The Far Arm is a mostly unexplored region of space for us.”

“What about that other ship you said I was on They should know.”

“They are all dead.”

“What about any records, logs or anything like that”

Kaylor tensed. “The computer core was stolen by the pirates. I’m afraid there are no other records.”

“Who are these fucking pirates” Adam slammed his fist down hard on the table, denting it, and sending a loud report throughout the room.

“We don’t know. They are a menace here in The Void, but no one knows who they are or where they come from.”

“Bullshit! Someone knows.”

Kaylor hesitated, then said, “No.no bullshit. All I can promise you is that when we get to Nimor, we will turn you over to the Ministry and maybe they can help you.”

Adam leaned back in the chair, exhausted. He closed his eyes and just shook his head. What should have been the greatest adventure for all of mankind was rapidly turning into a fucking nightmare! If no one knew where he came from, and he could never return, then he might as well be dead. After all, in the eyes of the military, and of his wife and young daughter, he already was.

As he sat there with his eyes closed, in this room with two very smelly aliens, he once again fought to maintain control. He was supposed to know how to handle difficult situations like these, but the rollercoaster of emotions he was experiencing wouldn’t stop. At that moment, he didn’t much care what happened to him. Kaylor could pull out that weapon of his and blow his brains out right then and there. It just didn’t matter anymore. It would at least make the pain go away. It would end this nightmare. And the memories.

But Kaylor did not draw his weapon. Instead he motioned for Jym to follow him and they left Adam alone in the lounge area.

Once back in the pilothouse, Jym spoke first. “That was close. We can never let him know about the computer core.”

“Agreed. But I believe we will need his testimony regarding the pirates. We have to be careful with him.”

Jym’s ears were flicking wildly. “That thing is dangerous,” he said as he paced around the room. “We need to get rid of him as soon as we can. I can’t believe he wants us to just fly him back to some unknown planet in the Far Arm! That’s crazy. Does he think we’re made of credits I don’t know how it is on his planet, but everything has a price in the real galaxy.”

Kaylor let him vent; it was just his way.

“Put him in number three and make him comfortable. We’ll be at Nimor in about 20 hours. After that, he will be someone else’s problem.”

In a daze, Adam allowed himself to be led to a room with a small bed in it and a desk set into a wall. The chair at the desk was affixed to the floor and on the desk was a monitor screen. On the bed was a set of blue coveralls and pair of slip-on shoes, similar to what Kaylor wore. Adam chose to sit on the end of the bed.

“I’ll bring you some food in a while,” Jym said. “Until then, please attempt to rest. Kaylor has laid out a tunic that should fit you.” Then he pointed out a small control panel near the door. “If you need more or less gravity to make yourself comfortable, you can do it from here.”

This comment snapped Adam out of his stupor. “You can adjust gravity”

“Of course.” Jym had to fight back the urge to add another comment about Adam’s primitive pedigree. Instead: “There are five individual wells which control the ship’s internal gravity. You appear to come from a heavy-gravity world, so you may want to adjust it up some. We’ll be on Nimor in about 20 hours.” And then he left.

Adam looked around his surroundings; again familiar, yet strange. His mind knew he was so far away from anything native to him that it was unimaginable, and yet here he was, alive, in relatively good condition and in the company of two very real aliens who did not appear to be a threat to him. But that didn’t help his overall situation or his mood.

He stood up and went over to the control panel by the door. He touched it and it lit up. There was a digital scale with a cursor (again familiar) and when he moved the cursor up, he immediately felt as if a weight was pressing down on him. The sensation quickly passed, so he moved the cursor up a little more with the same affect. One more move and he felt as if his weight was maybe a little heavier than he was used to. Since there was nothing to compare it to, he went simply by feel.

It suddenly occurred to him that maintaining his muscle mass in his alien surroundings would be very important. He knew that he was much stronger than these two aliens and if he didn’t keep that advantage, he could be in serious trouble. Not being up on their technology or customs, it may be the one thing he had going for him. Also, he was aware how astronauts in space would lose bone and muscle mass very quickly if they didn’t exercise regularly.

So he cranked the cursor up even more. It would be like carrying a backpack around with him and keep him as strong as possible.

Then he returned to the bed and layed down. He had to get his mind around his situation. As much as the physical, his mental condition would also play a major role in determining if he survived or not. He chuckled. Just moments before he didn’t give a fuck if he lived or died. Now he was thinking about surviving. The human spirit sure was resilient.

As he lay there, Adam began to take inventory of his predicament.

He was a twenty-six-year-old E-5 in the US Navy, a member of the elite DEVGRU group, which most of the team members still referred to as SEAL Team Six. In his SMU, or Special Mission Unit, he was classified as a sniper and weapons expert, even though nearly everyone in his unit carried the same designation. He had been on his fourth excursion in-country, this time on a recon of the rugged mountain area between Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were following a lead on a Taliban commander who had recently taken credit for a bombing of the US Embassy in Kabul — when his world was suddenly jerked out from under him!

His future in the Navy was looking pretty good. He had just completed his advanced sniper instructor training and had also taken the First Class exam last month. He felt confident that he would make it, since SEAL’s were a pretty dedicated group of sailors, and he was no exception. If he made E-6, then he could possibly come back to Dam Neck as an instructor.

Seven months ago, just after he’d returned from his third mission to Afghanistan, he and Maria had bought their first home, located in a quiet neighborhood off Lynnhaven Parkway. It was a small three bedroom, two bath brick with a one-car attached garage, where he kept his cherry 2006 Mustang GT under a tan canvas tarp.

Cassie was two at the time, and Adam really hated to leave Maria there on her own every time he was sent out, what with the new house and the terrible-two’s all at once. But if he made First Class, he could apply as an instructor and that would guarantee him three years in Hampton Roads. And with the war winding down, he could possibly stay even longer.

Adam’s dad had been career Navy, too, and was extremely proud of his only son. David Cain still lived in Northern California, Monterey to be precise, and he and his son exchanged emails nearly every day when he wasn’t off on a mission.

That thought sent a spasm of pain through Adam’s heart. By now, his dad would have accepted the fact that his son was dead, more than likely taken captive and tortured to death. Since Adam knew his body could never be found, and no publicity would be extracted from his capture by the Taliban, that would be the only assumption people would make. After all, his Teammates would not have left his body on the battlefield — if there had been a body to recover.