Alien Breed

At the time, I thought the doctor was talking about his crew phoning Earth. Now, I’m not so sure.

How can I make sense of this?

My head is throbbing. I press my thumbs against my temples, but the pain won’t pass.

The doctor meant something by those words.

“The servers at Discovery Base,” I whisper.

It’s been a long time since those servers ran. The cables are worn, but maybe there’s a way to turn them back on. I have a feeling Naomi won’t be too far.

None of this solves our problem with the fuel, but if we can phone Earth, maybe they can send another ship to save Naomi.

They’ll kill me, but that’s okay. I’d do anything for that woman.

I run back to the trail toward Discovery Base. I try to put together all of the pieces inside my head. The servers – was the doctor simply trying to warn Earth of our escape?

I stumble through the wilderness, thoughts confusing my general direction. Pausing to take a breath, I kneel and shake my head.

I’ve been followed.

Twigs crack underneath Fassbender’s boots as he limps around a corner. His right leg is bleeding, flesh torn by a set of sharp talons. He breathes and stares me down.

My nostrils flare. I inch away from him. “Leave me be,” I say. “I don’t want to kill you.”

Fassbender calms and raises his pistol. “Stop moving, alien.”

Slowly, I raise my hands to show him I won’t strike. “I told you. I am not hunting you,” I say.

He waves the gun from my chest toward the ground. “On your knees.”

I drop and feel the mud cave around my kneecaps.

I can’t believe it. The bastard got me.

* * *

“I’ve finally found you,” Fassbender says, carefully inching forward. “You sick beast.”

If his plan is to take me back to Earth to be studied, he’s in for a rude awakening. “The fuel is gone,” I say. “Zakar drained it in the ocean. There is no going back home. Please, I can help you and your crew.”

I’m willing to talk this out in a very diplomatic way, but I’m not getting very far. Fassbender keeps the barrel pointed at my solar plexus.

“Zakar will be looking for us. We can work together,” I lie.

Fassbender merely laughs. “Subject 04. I named you Turin.”

I try to reason with him. Anything to keep his mind occupied, so he doesn’t pull that trigger enough times to end me.

“You don’t know what you’re doing. If we don’t stop Zakar, everyone will die, including you,” I say.

He takes another step forward, confidently edging his heels into the mud. “I think I know what I’m doing. I know all about you,” he says.

“You only know what you’ve been told. What you’ve read in those reports is not the entire truth,” I tell him.

Fassbender’s face shifts into a mysterious glare. “I watched your birth,” he says. “All the way in tiny, tiny Kentucky, I watched them make you.”

I lower my hands.