Phillip Peterson - The Dark Ship

“How am I supposed to fly this thing?” Jeff asked, looking down at the controls on the two front seats.

“As I said, everything has been prepared. As soon as the hatch closes, go to the front and strap yourself in. Then press the illuminated button. The escape pod will take off and leave the mother ship.”

“And how do I get to the next star system?”

“The pod will continue its course as programmed by the mother ship.”

“You mean, the ship is flying toward Earth?” Jeff asked.

“I don’t know. The target is a G-class system, the third planet from the sun. According to the database, it has a satellite and large amounts of liquid water. And it—”

Jeff gave a wave of his hand. “OK. That sounds like Earth. How long will the flight take?”

“Since the escape pod has a lower mass, it can make longer hyperjumps than the mother ship. The computer calculates a flight time equivalent to one hundred and twenty of your days. Upon arrival at your destination, the spacecraft will automatically search for a landing site and initiate the appropriate maneuver.”

Jerry pointed to the back of the cabin.

“The cryogenic pods are very easy to use. You lie down in it and press the oval button in front of you. The device will do everything else. It will wake you when you have reached your destination.”

Jeff nodded and stretched out a hand. “Thank you, Jerry.”

The alien took his hand. It felt cold. “We thank you for freeing us from our suffering. I wish you and your species all the best. I hope you enjoy a better fate than ours.”

Jeff swallowed. “Thank you. I would like—”

“There’s no more time.” Jerry withdrew his hand and hurried back out of the hatch. “Another sixty seconds. Close the hatch and prepare for departure. You must hurry if you want to live.” Then he closed the hatch of the mother ship. Jeff pulled the lever on the inner door of the flight capsule and it closed with a dull thud. A pneumatic hiss told him the hatch was sealed.

He hurried along the narrow cylinder of the ship’s hull. Joanne was groaning and holding her head. She seemed to be slowly regaining consciousness. “Everything’s going to be OK,” he said as he walked past.

He sat down in the chair. It was too small for him and he had to squeeze himself into it. He reached for the harness, which was very similar to one on a human ship, pulled it over his waist, and snapped it shut.

A yellow button shone directly in front of him.

He took a deep breath and pressed it.

Immediately he was pushed forward against his belt. The capsule was going to be ejected backward. He looked out of the window in front of him into a dark tunnel, whose dimly lit walls slid past at breakneck speed. The capsule vibrated violently and he was thrown back and forth in his seat.

For what seemed like an eternity, they raced backward through the long tunnel, reminding him once again how gigantic this ship was. Surely the sixty seconds must be up. Jeff fully expected a giant explosion to tear apart the ship, the tunnel, and the escape pod, sending him into the afterlife.

Then, suddenly, they were outside!

He could see a few stars; more and more appeared as the demon ship retreated from view, until it was barely more than an outline.

Just a few seconds later it had disappeared completely. Any moment now… Jeff was wondering what would happen when the ship’s reactors exploded, when he was almost blinded by an incredibly bright flash of light. Jeff closed his eyes, but the light penetrated his closed eyelids.

He forced himself to open his eyes again and saw a giant yellowish orb in front of him, growing larger.

It will devour us!

But the brightness of the explosion subsided and collapsed in on itself until only a faint, red afterglow in space indicated the former existence of the alien ship.

Jeff sighed with relief. They’d done it!

He unbuckled himself and stood up. At least there was artificial gravity in this escape pod. He went over to Joanne, who was slumped in a seat two rows behind. She had opened her eyes. Her gaze was clear as she looked out of the window. Jeff leaned over her.

“We’re in space,” she said.

“Yes, we got away. We made it, and we’re on our way to Earth.”

“That bright explosion just now. Was that the black ship?”

Jeff nodded. “Yes, it’s been destroyed.” He forced himself to smile. “Everything’s going to be OK. How do you feel?”

“Not too bad. I’d like to get up. Can you undo my belt?”

“I think you should rest a bit more.”

“Please,” she implored.

Jeff sighed and leaned forward to undo her belt.

From the corner of his eye he saw Joanne raise her arm but thought nothing of it.

Pain exploded through his temple and he blacked out.

Jeff regained consciousness, groaning. His head hurt so badly, he thought it would break into a thousand pieces at any moment. He had to force himself to open his eyes.

“You’ve woken up,” he heard Joanne’s voice somewhere behind him. He wanted to turn around but couldn’t. He was shackled to the seat in front of the window, where Joanne had just been sitting. His arms were tied to the armrest with thin straps. His feet were hanging freely above the floor, but they were tied together at the ankles.

Joanne came into his field of vision from the right-hand side. She was grinning. But he could see immediately that it wasn’t Joanne’s grin. The demon had taken off her combat suit, she was wearing only a white top and skimpy white panties.

“You’re still alive!” Jeff said. He couldn’t believe it.

“Yes. I’m surprised myself that it worked,” said the demon. “It seemed that the prospect of death helped my consciousness make the leap to her body.”

“But the shield in Joanne’s suit—”

The demon gave a dismissive wave. “Green broke that already. It was the only way to take possession of her. Worked with Owl, too.” He chuckled. “And you dimwits didn’t notice a thing.”

Jeff jerked forward but the restraints were too tight.

“Don’t even try.” the demon said. “You don’t stand a chance.” He laughed, and globules of spit landed on Jeff’s face. “In the end, I won after all.”

“But the ship is destroyed.”

Joanne’s body shrugged. “But now I have a nice new, young body. That’s worth something.” The demon ran a hand over Joanne’s breasts.

“Do you want to know what I’m going to do?” the demon asked. He didn’t wait for Jeff to respond. “I will go to Earth and take over your Emperor. He’ll soon develop a few new hobbies. In the cellar of his palace there’s plenty of room for a nice dungeon, full of nice toys. It was starting to get a bit boring on the ship anyway.”

“You’re gross,” Jeff hissed.

“You’re repeating yourself,” the demon said, rubbing between his legs with Joanne’s left hand. In the other, he was holding a slender knife with a black handle. “That’s a nice feeling. I never did understand human sexuality. My former body didn’t have anything like this. We still have a little time till we get to Earth. Maybe we can use it to experiment a little.” He came nearer and sat down on Jeff’s lap. “I could ride you. That way it’s enjoyable for both of us. Oh yes, let’s do that.” Then he raised his other arm and examined the knife. “And while we do it, I’ll slowly slit you open and keep on riding you till you’re dead. What do you think of that?”

Jeff’s eyes narrowed to slits. He didn’t answer.

“It was almost too easy.”

“What do you mean?” Jeff couldn’t stop himself from asking.

“After I took over Green, it was no problem killing the others. I didn’t actually want to bring you to the center of the ship, I just wanted to have a little fun. Green was supposed to kill you all, one by one, like he did Fields and Irons.”