THEY CAME PART 15
The other me took over right away and I witnessed it all. The maimer first tried to enter my mind. My passenger laughed and shoved it out. The alien staggered backwards as if physically hit. It growled and twisted its features into what I assumed was rage. This one probably didn’t get down to the surface often. We humans tended to piss them off a lot. None of those ever made that face.
It charged me and I easily side stepped causing the alien to crash into the wall behind me. Without hesitation, it reached one of its long arms back to grab me by my shirt. Clearly, my other self wasn’t expecting that. The maimer turned around to face me. It raised its open hand towards my face. All I could think of was maybe touch made their control stronger. Luckily, my other me thought faster. We dropped to the ground using the alien’s weight against it.
It toppled down but before it could land on top of us, we raised both feet and shoved it over our head. It crashed into the railing that led far down into the engines of their ship. The maimer must have hit its head because it lay there for moment before trying to stand again.
My other self whispered in my mind. “Relax more. I want to try something.” Since I didn’t have control of my body yet, I did what I could to relax internally.
A static sound filled my head. The sensation was just like when I would read the other maimer’s mind back at the zoo only stronger. The one in front of me was getting back to its feet causing me to panic. On the outside, however, I appeared calm. My mind ached and then something snapped like a tight rubber band. I was instantly alone in my own head again. It was all I could to stay standing.
The alien in front of me went rigid then relaxed. Its face went slack one moment and then smiled the next. From its own mouth came our English language but a bit more guttural. “How is that for a trick?”
It was my turn to be stunned. I couldn’t even form words. What just happened? The expression written all over my face must have been perfectly clear, though.
The alien laughed. “It’s me. Your other self, as you call me. We sort of did this back at the zoo. I wanted to see if we could do this and look! We did.”
I still couldn’t find the words to say. I was impressed though. Now we had a better way to save my family. I slowly walked up to the now possessed alien and looked it in the eyes. There was a difference. They used to be pure black like a black hole in space, bottomless. Now there was a shine to them.
The alien smiled even more. “Come on. I have a plan. I can access this alien’s memories. This is the right floor, but we need to go around to the right. Stay behind me and act like you are a prisoner.”
I caught on quick to what she wanted to do. It was brilliant. I waited for her to start walking and I fell in behind her. It was strange. That was an understatement. She was really me and she was taking control of the alien in front of me. How much crazier could that be?
We walked for a while. The hallway curved to the right continuously. To the right of us was a wall with doors. To our left was the same but everyone once in a while there was a bridge leading off to some other area. The engines roared below us.
She held her head high as she walked while I looked at the ground. Several other aliens passed us by but none of them asked any questions. Some even lead other humans. I had no clue where they were taking them, but I knew where I was going. There was no sign of the other resistance group I came with.
We must have come towards the front of their ship because there was double door open wide to our left. As we passed, I looked inside. Consoles lined every wall. Several stood as islands in the middle of the room. A huge window took up the entire front wall. Aliens sat at every possible location. Each had some kind of device hooked to their heads. Probes extended out of the helmet devices and attached to them at what seemed to be random places all over their heads. There was no captain’s chair like you would see in a Star Trek movie or episode, but the beeps and sounds were very similar.
It gave me an idea, but I didn’t dare talk about it right now. I had to keep up appearances for the moment. Instead, I focused on how we would do what I was thinking.
Another turn brought us to yet another bridge. We didn’t pass this one by. We made a left and crossed over it. As we did, I looked down to see a machine beyond explanation. There were gears and pullies, solid pieces and some sort of jell that seemed to move throughout the entire thing as if alive.
On the other side, we came to a single door. There wasn’t another hallway or other rooms, just the one. A white metal pad was attached to the wall right beside the solid door. There were no numbers or keypad, just a flat, clean surface.
The alien with my other self inside, placed their palm on the plate. A white light flashed briefly, and the door cracked open. She pushed it the rest of the way and we both entered. Beyond the door were more stations similar to the room we passed in the hallway. Instead of aliens, there were humans attached to these. Some sat still as if they were dead, staring forward and not blinking. A screen zoomed through shapes and equations. Others had items in front of them and they used tools to build whatever it was supposed to be.
We didn’t see any other aliens in this room. It made sense since there was no place for them to run. These were the smartest people we had on earth, and they couldn’t find a way to escape? It didn’t seem right. Then I took a closer look. Each human was shackled to their station.
I searched each face. My sister and brother-in-law weren’t in this room. There was another door several stations down, so we headed to that. Several rooms later, there they were. They sat side by side working on a project together. At least the aliens let them be close to each other.
Tears streamed down my face. Pain ached in my heart. I finally found them.
