But then I take a gander at the path toward Empire City. I can’t go there. I’d be found, raped, and then executed. Or worse. They’d keep me to breed for an eternity.
No thanks.
The craft is round, but it does not resemble the depictions in the movies. No, it’s round like a pinball, and multiple rings are positioned around it. This is a different type of craft than the mothership. If I had to make a guess, it’s an older model.
There’s no way this will work, right?
I walk around the spherical structure, stepping onto an opened platform. The inside is trashed, and covered with plants. What appear to be spider webs cover the computers.
I flick a switch, and the lights turn on. A solid hum shakes the craft awake. The door closes, and suddenly, I lift off of the ground.
“Shit,” I mutter.
The computer says something in their alien language, but I hear it in English. “Ready for take-off. Location?”
Maybe it’s not so hard to fly one of these things, after all.
I start to speak. “Eart—”
But I cut myself off, sitting back on a weathered chair.
“Location?” the computer repeats.
Looking up at the ceiling for an answer, I take a deep breath and relinquish control. I could go home right now. All I’d have to do is say the coordinates. But for whatever reason, I can’t seem to get them out.
I’m torn between two ideas. My family, and the one I have just created and lost.
I still have our baby inside of my womb. In time, it will take shape and develop a mind and heart. I can’t tell them I left their fathers to die.
“Location?”
In a moment of passion, I hit the screen. “Will you just shut up and let me think?”
“Location?”
“Ugh!”
“Location?”
I twist my jaw and bite my inner lip. I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but…
“Take me to Planet Ferän,” I say.
The computer’s display screen shows a complex map of the universe. Even though I can understand the language, it’s far too big for me to comprehend.
The computer says, “Planet Ferän. Searching coordinates. Found. Please, brace for take-off.”
I take hold of the seat belt, but the craft doesn’t wait for me to buckle up. Within a single second, we’re zooming through the air, blazing into the cosmos. I’m barely hanging on.
I hear the sounds of lasers, of gunfire and more devastation from below. I’m not sure if it’s aimed at me, but I manage to escape into the twinkling stars above.
I feel my skin tingle. The stars and galaxies warp, and I feel myself start to disintegrate.
Literally. My skin dissolves into atoms. My cells split apart, and the entire universe opens up for me.
The craft can apparently warp through space and time. I don’t know how. It didn’t seem like a wormhole, but how it happened is irrelevant to me.
In the distance, Ferän floats. It grows bigger. Minutes pass, and I’m nearing it’s dusty atmosphere.