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Casey focused on Jack’s face until he was certain the technical sergeant had passed. Whether or not his soul and a copy of his physical body passed into the metaverse was up for debate. If it had, perhaps Casey would run into him again in the future. Anything could and would happen in the metaverse. Casey was convinced of that now. He had learned the hard way. But that didn’t make his fear of death and the pain that so often accompanied it, any less real.
He also realized that, as much as he loved Melissa Fitch, he no longer wanted to live in outer space. He could not make it to Mars. He was a killer and eventually the Space Force would figure that out and they would send a law enforcement team to arrest him. He couldn’t allow that to happen to him or Melissa. He was technically on the run, after all.
But first, there were crucial jobs to take care of. Like killing more monsters for one, and making certain the docking procedure with The Expendable went smoothly.
The two stood up and made their way to the staircase.
“How long before docking, Alex?” Casey asked out loud.
“Approximately T-minus fifty minutes,” Alex announced.
That was good news because it meant the robot had indeed infiltrated The Expendable’s AI settings. Now at the top of the stairs, Casey turned to Melissa.
“We’re going to have to head back up to the cockpit,” he said. “We have more hunting and killing to do.”
“I’m aware of that,” she said. “How are you doing for plasma rounds?”
Casey went to the table in the social area where the ammo boxes had been placed. He slid six more fresh rounds into the rifle’s housing tube, then pulled the forearm back. The satisfying sound of gunmetal-on-gunmetal filled the space.
“Locked and loaded,” he said.
Alex appeared from the galley then. He was missing his left arm and the faux skin that covered his face had been torn away exposing his aluminum insides and all sorts of colored wiring. Only one of his eyes was operable while the other hung down on his cheek. Some sort of dark liquid that wasn’t blood, but that was oily nonetheless, surrounded his damaged eye and filled his eye socket.
“Oh no, Alex,” Melissa said. “One of them got to you. Are you okay?”
Casey wondered if the AI robot could feel pain. His guess was that it could not. But then, what the hell did Casey know?
“Does it hurt, Alex?” the security officer asked.
“I don’t think so,” Alex said.
His voice had been altered from its boyish calm to emotionless mechanical. The monster must have torn away his voice box.
“Can you function properly?” Melissa asked.
“Physically, I am running at sixty-five percent capacity,” the robot said. “But my AI and my computing abilities remain at ninety-nine-point-nine percent effectiveness.”
“Okay good,” she said. “From this point on, you stick with us.”
He was holding some items in his surviving mechanical hand. He set them on the table. Four power bars.
“For your strength,” he said. “You haven’t eaten anything.”
It dawned on Casey that he hadn’t even thought about eating. But he grabbed a power bar, tore the plastic wrap off with his teeth, and began ravaging the peanut butter-flavored bar. In turn, Melissa grabbed one of the bars with her free hand, tore it open in the identical manner of her lover, and began to eat.
“Would you like me to make some coffee for you?” Alex offered.
“I’d like us not to spend not a single minute more than we have to down here,” Casey said. “But if you wouldn’t mind grabbing us a couple of water bottles that would be great, Alex.”
“Consider it done,” the robot said about-facing and heading back into the galley.
There came a scream and an abrupt slam, like metal against rigid plastic.
“Oh Christ, there’s one of them in there,” Casey said, making his way to the galley.
Shouldering his rifle, he fired two shots that took out a moth monster that had, for the second time, attacked Alex. The monster’s head was blown off and there was a gaping hole in its chest as the acidic green blood puddled on the galley floor and immediately began burning its way through to the physical plant below.
Coming from behind was Melissa.
“Poor, Alex,” she said, genuine sensitivity in her voice. “Is that green shit going to hurt the propulsion system and the reactor?”
“It’s positioned far enough away from it,” Casey said. “But the sooner we can hook up with The Expendable, the better. This thing is going south fast.”
Alex was lying on the floor, his head hanging on by threads of wires. “You’re one brave robot to have come back in here knowing there was an alien in here,” Casey said while Melissa helped the now very damaged robot back onto its feet. It was then the security officer noticed that Alex’s other arm was now torn away from its torso.
“Or very stupid,” Alex joked, speaking with a head that was awkwardly hanging down against his shoulder. “My physical capabilities have now been reduced to thirty percent. I’m afraid you’ll have to retrieve your own water.”
“Not a problem,” Casey said going into the fridge and grabbing two bottles with his free hand. He stuffed them into the leg pockets on his military fatigues.
“Alex, you’re coming with us,” Casey insisted.
Melissa was already standing by the elevator. When she saw Casey and the injured Alex coming her way, she hit the call button. Taking a step back, she shouldered her rifle and aimed for the elevator door. It was like she knew precisely what was going to happen when the door slid open.
When it did, the eight-foot, black-winged, long-beaked alien was standing inside the cab, its claws outstretched and its fanged mouth oozing with thick saliva. Without hesitation, Melissa Fitch blew its head off. The big creature dropped on the spot in a puddle of green acid.
“We’ll take the stairs,” Casey offered.
“Good idea,” Melissa said, going to the table and grabbing hold of the long plastic stick.
She tossed it to Casey who snatched it out of the air. Reaching upward with the stick, he hooked onto the circular latch and pulled down on it. The aluminum stairs opened automatically. Peering upwards, the security officer could plainly see that the coast was clear. No monsters. Not yet anyway.
“Good to go,” he said.
“Alex, do you need help?” Melissa asked.
“I’m perfectly capable of climbing since I still have both legs and feet,” he said in his mechanical voice. “But thank you for your consideration.”
The craft noticeably bucked then, almost like a jetliner that hits a patch of bad air and that drops a couple of hundred feet in an instant.
“I’m afraid some of the green acids have managed to breach the craft’s hull,” Alex said.
“We must work fast,” Melissa said.
“Let’s move people,” Casey said, the first to climb the steps. “Let’s work the problem and beat these alien bastards at their own game.”
“What game is that?” Alex queried while climbing the steps behind the security officer.
“Live and let die,” Casey said.