'Sacmis' (formerly 'Alien Abduction')

Chapter 30: Departure

“Look - there’s our destination.”

Their field of view was dense with stars, brighter than they ever looked from Earth, stretching away to infinity in all directions, but dead centre was one far brighter and larger than all the rest, glowing rust-red. 

“That’s Mars,” said Teo, “the Red Planet.”

Even as they watched, it seemed to be growing in size. Clearly visible were two other shapes slowly orbiting it.

“Phobos and Deimos,” said Teo, “the two moons of Mars.”

“Phobos is almost twice the size of Deimos and both are much, much smaller than your Moon,” added Matias.

“We should reach Mars orbit sometime tonight,” said Irvn. 

“Thanks for the astronomy lesson,” said Laura, “but we have more serious stuff to talk about.”

The other women nodded.

“From what Irvn told Gemma,” continued Laura, “your planet has built a fleet capable of abducting women in their thousands. This ship apparently being one of them. ”

The Aliens remained silent.

“Assuming we believe the four of you when you say you’re against the plan, it doesn’t alter the fact that your being here is a major threat to women on Earth.”

“But we have no intention of revealing Earth’s location,” said Teo.

“You say that,” replied Amisha, “but what if you were followed?”

“We’ve been here nearly two of your years,” said Matias, “and no ships have appeared yet.”

“On top of the two years it took us to get here,” added Cymon.

The women took a moment to digest this.

“That,” said Laura, “is reassuring - up to a point. But I’m not sure you guys have really thought this through. If you go home, I doubt they’ll welcome you with open arms - and they’re bound to find out where you’ve been and what you’ve been up to. So what’s the plan? Live on this ship forever?”

The Aliens looked at each other and seemed to reach a silent agreement. It was Matias who spoke for them.

“One possibility we considered…was to start a new life somewhere else.”

“You mean on Earth?” said Kate.

“Possibly. Or on another planet with a suitable environment.”

“So there’s a bit more to it than just getting your leg over?” said Amisha.

The Aliens said nothing.

“This is probably a good time to remind you of your promise to return us to Earth after our sightseeing tour. Founding a new civilisation wasn’t in the job description.”

“We will stand by our word,” said Irvn, “after two weeks you’ll be returned. If that’s what you still want.”

“I think you can count on that,” said Gemma, immediately confirmed by nods from the others.

“We have something for you,” said Matias, holding out what looked like four flat silver straps about three centimetres wide.

Warily, the women each took one. They resembled a wide but incredibly slim watch strap, inset with a screen that currently showed the time.

“They’re communicators,” said Matias, “so you can easily talk to us or to each other. Just speak the name of the person you want to connect to, then hold it in front of your face to see and be seen.”

Amisha was turning hers over, examining it carefully. “Where’s the Apple logo?” she said.

“They’re pretty much indestructible - and waterproof,” said Cymon, “you can even wear them in the shower.”

“Nice try,” said Kate, “but I think I’ll take mine off for that.” 

“They only connect if you swipe to answer,” replied Cymon defensively “ - just like a cellphone.”

“Cool,” said Gemma, wrapping hers round her wrist. It gripped gently without any sign of a fastener. She lifted it to her face and spoke ‘Kate’ and it was immediately answered by a gentle warble on Kate’s.

“Major Tom to ground control,” said Gemma, “come in please.”

“This is ground control to Major Tom,” replied Kate, laughing.

“Who is Major Tom?” asked Irvn

“I can see we’re going to have to work on your musical education,” said Gemma.

© Adriana Nicolas 2014