The Perfect Ones

*Edited on: 10/31/2010*

I was a lieutenant then, just stationed on the ship. The captain was terrible, and very strange, his beard was two strings from the corners of his mouth and a goatee. He flogged us himself for the smallest thing, even just bringing his food five minutes late. Simply put, he was sadistic. However, or maybe because of that, I wanted my own ship, just like in all the dime novels. It didn't have to be fancy, but I wanted one anyway. I can't think of anyone who doesn't, besides Davis, but he was always kinda strange. He never seemed to care if he moved around in the system, didn't seem to care about much at all, except what he did in the lab. But good things happened to him, seemingly without any drive from him. However, my skill or luck, however you want it, at climbing the ranks was not very good at that time, so I had been a lieutenant for quite a while. Ironically enough, my rise started with my fall. My fall from grace within the navy. You see, I destroyed a ship of theirs when they thought it needed no destroying. They were wrong, of course, but they were still mad at me. Whatever it was, she was key. I think she was pregnant. I'm not quite sure, but I think she was. But that doesn't matter. Anyway, whatever it was, she was the first one to go.  She was sleeping in a hammock on a walkway over a storage area, her choice, not ours. We never checked those much, the storage areas. One night, myself and some others were walking along when we heard screams from the walkway. We looked in and saw her there, awake and looking extremely disoriented and -I don't know- frazzled? Frankly, she looked terrified. I asked what was wrong and she said it was just a nightmare. We continued our rounds for a while, and found a part of the corridor that had yellow blood-like stuff on the floor and a bit of the walls. The rest of the group went through, though not without curios looks, and continued on. I stayed back, suspicious. I went back along the corridor to the storage room to see if anything had happened. I looked in. She wasn't there. Her hammock had some of the yellow stuff from the hall, but nothing else was there. I looked over the railing and saw a flash of yellow and black legs. Alien insectoid legs. I called the rest of my squad and told them to meet me at the captains office. They never came. At one point I thought I heard screams. I called them again. There was no response. I went into the captains quarters by myself. The captain was sitting at his desk, looking concerned. I coughed a little to get his attention, he asked me what it was. I responded with a rather full report of the events of the evening, omitting only the legs. The captain ordered us all to shuttles and readied the self-destruct. He stayed in the launching bay control and opened the doors to let us all out. We flew out into the darkness of space.

*  *  *  *

The captain sat back in his chair and waited for the end. Suddenly, Lieutenant Davis burst out from behind him. The captain whirled around. Davis had a gun.

     "What are you doing here?! The ship is going to explode, you idiot!" the captan yelled at him.

     The lieutenant only replied, "Exactly, Sir. They all want it dead. My precious creature! That which I worked so hard to create, and they wish it dead, along with you."

     "W-wha-?" The captain stammered. "What are you talking about!?"

    "O, nothing sir," scornfully, "They all knew. They only wanted you out of the way. They didn't care about this ship, or any of the inhabitants. They only wanted you dead."

     " I cannot accept that, you insubordinate fool!"

     "O, but you must. I can't do this without you 'Captain'."

     "And if I refuse?"

     "Did I ever say I needed cooperation?"

     "..."

      Davis smiled evilly, "Just as I thought. No, I just need your access, your life matters not."

     "Then why not just kill me now?" The captain was getting exasperated.

     "Ever heard of meat on the hoof, "Captain'? I simply don't want to lug you around, though I will if I must"

     "Why did you have to kill all those people though?"

     "Why? To make it convincing, that was all."

     "But... All those people," the captain sounded a little shaken.

     "Tarina, the pregnant woman, she was the carrier, that's why she died first-"

     All this time, the captain had been bringing his cat-of-nine-tails out from behind his back. He chose this moment to swing. Davis ducked, but was nocked off balance. The captain swung again, but Davis shot, first. The captain looked at the bloody stump that was all that was left of his left hand, then he fell, almost screaming from agony. Davis then tore off some pipe insulation from one of the steam ducts. He thrust the captain's stump into it, cauterizing the wound. The captain only screamed all the more.

     Davis put his face right next to the captain's and hissed, "My precious creature tears its way out, then eats the host. The host is the lucky one, though, for once the host is eaten, her brain is fused with the creature into a completely new being. An unstoppable being. A perfectly unique being mutated from its original form by the thoughts at the time of bonding. Commanded only by its whims and loyalties, and very slightly influenced by its previous life. O, they can also survive space. So, if you wish to help me, I will be generous, and let one of them eat you. Does that sound fair?"

     "You're utterly insane! How do you expect me to go along with this?" The captain was outraged, and only partially from the pain.

     "You seem to misunderstand. I'm giving you the chance to become a Perfect One, though you certainly don't deserve it."

Untitled Story 1 :: Chapter 1 :: Part 2

After my brother was nearly killed from the accident, I took him to the navy hospital, only because I knew it was the only place that could fix him up. It was the only decision that I could make. I knew that he would be drafted. I managed to get in as well, because of my ability with machines. Starships are different from cars, as would be expected, but not different enough to keep my skill from helping. The training is strenuous, but no more so than to be expected from a military program. There are slightly different tools and we need to learn to work in zero-g, but beyond that it's not much that needs to be but relearned. I'm not getting much communication from my brother anymore, except to say that he's alive still, really, and that training is going well enough. Our work started on the ground, mostly fixing the small fighters that were landed from the near-world skirmishes. My brother contacted a captain somehow, and got us both on his ship, so we could continue to look after each other I guess. I'm still not seeing my brother much, but at least I know he's not dead still. We've been doing drills excessively, and know exactly what we're supposed to do with most any attack situation. As mechanics we get suits with extra arms that are controlled by brain implants, so I suppose I have been upgraded as well as my brother.

     The attack came at about 0300, and crippled us badly, despite our preparation. After I saw the situation I got my suit space ready, just in case. It was Ravagers, the evil buggers. They care nothing for spoils, only mindless destruction and death. Once I saw it was them, I stayed by the engines to keep my heat signature from reading well on their scanners. All I heard were the screams, even from the men, they sounded nothing so much as little girls. I could see one of the other mechanics being torn apart and eaten alive, the Ravager was a particularly nasty one who cauterized the wounds to keep the victim alive longer. The screams were enough to drive most anyone mad by themselves, and the visuals only added to that. Insanity was imminent in my mind.

     I felt the ship undock and leave. I stayed where I was for a time, then got up and explored the damage of the ship. I had no life signs but one, then that faltered and died. That was when I realized there were two in the same place, the one running, the other no more. I followed the sign to a main access corridor, then realized to wonder why I was following. Soon after I decided to follow again. The worst it could do by itself would be chase, and that only if it found me. The arti-grav was gone and I had the advantage of the extra arms to pull myself along. It seemed to be a man, carrying my brother. I hid in a side corridor to see where he was going. I followed him to the airlock and saw a shuttle. Waiting with it was a woman with a nasty scar over one eye, which was a cybernetic replacement and looked less than legal. She was carrying a gauss rifle and had a hacking device strapped across her back, which is probably how they got in, not that they couldn't have come in through one of the large holes in the hull. I stayed in hiding until they left, then explored more of the ship. There were no survivors but me. The loneliness and fear of another attack were enough to drive me nearly mad with paranoia. I knew that they could come back at any minute and kill me. I hid constantly. Then one day the small ship came back. The one with the man who took my brother. I decided I would kill him. He killed my brother, and my brother would be avenged, he had to be.

Untitled Story 1 :: Chapter 1 :: Part 1

It all seems like a half remembered dream, what happened before. The work was coming along beautifully. We were about half way done when the accident happened. A beam fell from somewhere above, and all I managed to do, after the shout, was not be crushed vertically.

I should have died from that, seing as it crushed most of my stomach and upper thighs, but the Central Galactic Coalition fixed me up and subsequently "volunteered" me for the the star navy.

My father's last words to me, when he was arrested for illegal product trafficking, were: "Look after your sister for me. I love you, son." I have never forgotten that day or his words, and have taken care of my sister, just as he asked. So I guess she also took care of me, in the only way she could, at that time, even knowing the consequences. As it was, she came with me into the navy.

My sister has always had an affinity for machines, so we managed to get her a job as a mechanic. Amazingly, one of the captains took enough of a liking to us to get on the same ship, which happened to be his.I guess his superiors wanted any trouble we caused to be confined to our benefactors.

I managed Star Marine, because they fixed me up and "upgraded" me. Thermal vision, limited zero-oxygen operation, a scope link to our eyes, a laser cutter/welder that folds out of one arm and a katana that folds out of the other. We also have "cybernetic musculature enhancement" and armor implants. They also gave us rocket "bikes", nicknamed "crotch rockets". We get all the glamour and fame and all the high tech weaponry, but really, they treat us like starman rookies, maybe even worse...

***TO BE CONTINUED***

Untitled Story 1 :: Prologue

As I struggle to move along the cold metal corridor, I hear nothing. Nothing at all, but for my faint breathing. No explosions, no destruction, no engine... No life support. Stranded in the middle of nowhere with no one in reach of any communications. Trying to find the oxygen and will to keep going. Trying to find a shuttle, a suit hookup. Trying to find my sister. Trying to find life. Trying to find anything. I drag myself through a hatch. I seal it and vent the remaining air and heat from the previous corridor. Still not enough. My vision is going. I can almost see the suit hookup. Almost, but it is just out of my grasp. I crawl forward, nearly blind. Something knocks the ship, sending me backwards. Blackness. My vision is gone. I hear what might be footsteps running down the corridor, then that is gone too. I have a strange sensation of floating. Then nothing. Nothing at all... I have failed her. My sister. I have died. I promised to keep her safe, and I died...