Alien Nightmare, Part II: The Return
by 80sarcades
Welcome! My apologies for the delay; life has been way too busy recently...
"Hogan..."
As one, General Hogan and Captain Kinchloe turned around. The creature, awake now, glared ominously at them; red eyes probed theirs in a searching stare. Although intimidated, Hogan was careful not to let his true feelings show. Instead, he merely returned the cool gesture with an icy glare of his own.
"Rob..." Kinch whispered. Hogan broke away to follow the Captain's eyes. To his surprise the crystalline ball he had observed earlier was now glowing a soft blue. Another long chittering sound emanated from the creature's throat; the light flickered briefly before the crisp metallic voice returned. Instantly he recognized it for what it was.
A translating device!
"You are Hogan," the alien repeated. "Colonel, United States Army Air Forces. Serial number O170607."
"General, actually," the former POW corrected. He raised an eyebrow as a short stream of unnatural noise emnated from the device. In response, the creature merely nodded.
And they said Stalag 13 was crazy!
"How do you know my name?" Hogan queried. The intruder did not reply.
I guess social conversation is not on your hit parade.
Two questions then popped into his head: Who are you? What do you want? The former was light and interrogative; the latter dark and demanding.
And why do I think of spiders? Instead, he chose the first question.
"Who are you?"
The creature merely gave him a disdainful look. "We do not speak to inferiors," it sneered. With that, it rotated its eyestalks and head to look at the ceiling.
Hogan cocked his head for a brief moment before he played his earlier hunch. "Listen, lady," he retorted. "You're the one who started talking. Keep going."
The red eyes snapped back to meet his. For a fleeting moment he had the distinct impression that the creature was impressed. "You know that I am female," she observed quietly. "How?"
The General shrugged. "Call it male intuition."
The creature snorted. "Perhaps there is some intelligence on this primitive dirtball," she said approvingly. "Very well. I am Captain K'yrk of the Abraxi Matriarchate. Release me at once."
"No," Hogan said immediately. "What is the Abraxi Matriarchate?" he asked, his tongue stumbling over the last word.
"A force more powerful than anything on your pathetic planet," the visitor replied. "The galaxy that surrounds you is ours. Release me and return my crew," the alien repeated. "In return, I will graciously spare your lives."
"Your crew is dead," General Hogan said flatly. "Killed on impact. Your ship is a wreck. Try again."
In response, the creature's orbs shot venomous daggers toward the human General. "You killed my crew," she accused.
"No," the officer said quietly. "And on that, I give you my word."
The alien paused. For a moment, it examined Hogan's face before the metallic rasp started anew. "They will come," it announced. "My people will come for us. When they arrive, prepare for death."
General Hogan's eyes studied the visitor carefully. You're probably right, he decided. And God help us if they ever do. In response, he merely shook his head before his face broke into a cheerful grin.
"No, they won't," he frankly observed. "If they were, you wouldn't be talking to me." He stepped closer to the bound captain. "Why are you here?"
K'yrk comtemplated the question for a moment. "To sightsee," she finally answered. Hogan and Kinch traded a bemused look.
"And the women you kidnapped?" the General pressed.
"Tourists," came the dry reply.
Silence reigned in the room for a long moment while the General pondered his next move. His gut feeling told him that the alien woman was unlikely to give up any useful information...at least, not easily. Instead, he stepped over to the nearby table and casually fingered several of the odd items there before picking up the silver disc again. He held the object up to K'yrk's view.
"Nice collection," General Hogan casually remarked. He laid the disc in the palm of his left hand and activated it. As before, the projection of the scene and its occupant popped into view. "Friend of yours?" he asked.
The captain's colored eyes immediately locked onto the object. However, she remained silent.
"I guess it doesn't matter, then," Hogan continued. He raised his right hand to turn the projector off-
"Don't!" the creature suddenly interrupted. The General merely raised his eyebrow in response.
"My daughter," the metallic voice softly intoned. "A warrior." The alien paused for a moment. "Do you have children, General?"
Hogan shook his head. "No."
"She followed the calling of her heart much as I did," Captain K'yrk continued. "She will continue on where I have fallen. There is no greater satisfaction than to know that fact."
The General cocked his head slightly, his features now curious. "I take it that you're a warrior?" he asked.
"A scientist," she corrected. "But yes. I was one, once."
"And your two companions?" Hogan asked. "I take it they were scientists as well?" The slient reply told him all he needed to know. The officer returned his attention to the projector. To his amazement, he found that he could change the image simply by sliding his finger through the electronic 'ghost.' For a moment, he toyed with the oddity of scrolling through the alien pictures until K'yrk's chittering voice stayed his hand.
"My mate. R'ynac." the green creature indicated. The General looked at the new photo; it showed two reptillian figures standing side by side. Hogan presumed the taller one was the daughter, though he wasn't truly sure. Whoever it was wore the same style of uniform - though a different color - than the woman on the table. In contrast, the other and much shorter alien wore a simple brown outfit.
He looked at the prostrate alien. "Is he a warrior, too?" he asked, indicating the smaller figure.
A series of grunts and snorts suddenly filled the room. Hogan, startled, cut his eyes toward the crystalline ball before snapping them back to the alien. At that moment he realized the stranger was laughing.
"R'ynac...a warrior..." the creature metallically guffawed. "Ridiculous!"
"How so?" the General asked calmly.
K'yrk rolled her eyestalks upward in apparent disgust before her condescending tone filled the still air. "Females serve the greater good of the Matriarchate," she patiently explained. "Males stay at home and hatch eggs." Her bound hands flexed open to reveal her sharp claws. "It is the way of things," she finished dismissively.
For a moment, General Hogan had an image of himself laying chicken eggs. If you added in his wartime and other romances...
I would have populated the whole state of Texas by now!
"It's a little different here," Hogan said dryly before he put the projector back on the table.
The alien snorted. "It is about what I would expect from primitives," she sneered. "And if it were not for your accursed defense we would have shown you the proper way of doing things-"
At that moment K'yrk's harsh voice fell silent. The General gave his prisoner a puzzled glance.
"What defense?" Hogan asked, narrowing his curious eyes.
The ship captain looked at the human for a long moment. "Do with me as you will," she said dismissively. "I have no illusions as to what must be done. Or do you truly believe that I will live out my days as a prisoner?"
General Hogan didn't reply for a moment. Instead, his mind traveled back in time to when he was a prisoner of war himself...
...trapped in a Stalag, facing mirror images that sometimes left him ashamed, and driven by his own will to do the best for his men...
Oddly, he felt a bit of sympathy for the strange alien. In another way he also agreed with K'yrk: her existence would be a lonely one...if she were allowed to live at all.
And I won't bet my pension on that.
Curiously, his mind also pondered what the alien had let slip out.
What defense? he wondered. From what I've seen, our best defense is like toys compared to what these people have. So what is she talking about? The thought that had nagged his mind from earlier became a full-blown pounding. Unfortunately, the memory - if that was what it really was - stayed out of his reach.
For starters, they kidnapped us. Why? Were they trying to learn about humans? Or something else? Apparently we made an impression on the aliens: she knew my name, rank and serial number!
Just what did we do?
And if they're that powerful, then why didn't they come in some kind of warship? Why send just three scientists? Unless...
What if they found something? Something that scared the hell out of them. Something they needed to investigate.
Something simple.
Hogan's hand strayed toward his lower right-hand pocket.
Hammond said the alien went nuts when it saw a chocolate bar. And I'm willing to bet that the substance inside that tube was also chocolate. But why? What does it mean?
He reached inside his pocket and withdrew the Hershey bar he had palmed earlier before holding it up in the air. In response, the creature stiffened slightly; clawed hands suddenly tensed within their solid restraints. With careful precision, General Hogan slowly unwrapped one end of the candy treat while the now-nervous alien watched. Then, just as deliberately, he bit off one corner of the bar and slowly savored the delicious taste before a small smile crossed his lips.
K'yrk's jaw dropped open in utter shock. For what seemed like forever she watched the human eat the very thing that terrified her people. What was even worse - if such a thing were possible! - was that he seemed to be actually enjoying it!
For the first time in her life she considered the possibility that she might be...in error...when it came to the opposite sex. The revelation threatened to turn her world upside down. If a male had the qualities of a civilized female...could show such courage in the face of death...
No, she corrected. This one is not just any male. He's a warrior. A human warrior. K'yrk's fangs glistened in the bright light as she smiled. Her red eyes then looked at the American officer.
"All that remains for me," she ritually intoned, "is death and honor." To her surprise, the other warrior nodded.
He understands.
For his part, General Hogan didn't know what to think. His hands absently put the candy bar away while he considered the situtation.
They're afraid of a chocolate bar? his incredulous mind wondered. Why?
And somehow - though he couldn't recall exactly how he knew - he suddenly understood why. Then the alien spoke to him. The statement was a question; the question was a statement.
The officer stepped forward and leveled a somber gaze down upon the imprisoned alien. For a moment a pitched battle raged in his mind; he knew perfectly well what K'yrk was asking. On one level it was murder. On the other, it was...
...mercy?
He leaned in towards the ship captain and looked it staight in the eye. "What do you want me to do?" he softly whispered.
Without warning, there was a metallic ripping sound. A second later a clawed hand grasped General Hogan's throat in a tight vise. The alien's eyes narrowed menacingly as her suddenly powerful body tore through the rest of the restraints binding her to the table. The glare K'yrk delivered needed no translation.
"Die," the metallic alien voice hissed.
"Die..."
Next: Endgame
Don't you just like cliffhangers?
A/N: I had debated making the alien homeworld a *female* version of Ferenginar but I decided against it. I'm just not that cruel to have a whole planet full of guys (even if they are lizards) running around in the nude. I sometimes wonder which geek dreamed up the original DS9 concept.
The evolution of women on Star Trek is, to quote a certain pointy-eared science officer, fascinating. First you had the miniskirts on TOS. Then along came Deanna Troi. I didn't like her at first but she eventually evolved into a somewhat decent Starfleet officer. Voyager's Seven of Nine was kind of a turnoff for me but Captain Janeway was pretty cool. Then again (and a different series), nothing can ever top the Queen of Babylon 5: Susan Ivanova. That lady could drop kick you out of an airlock with a smile:-)
Lastly there was Kira Nerys, the best female Star Trek character IMHO. She was smart, feisty, cute, could MacGuyver things and blow stuff up. Just what every guy needs:-)
Thanks for reading!