The Recruitment: Rise of the Free Fleet (3 page)

I dried in seconds as I walked out, keeping my head high.

I walked through the door to officer Taleel and the nineteen others. They gasped and made noises as they saw my back pointing and talking.

“Stay in line!” Taleel growled—hitting the nearest to him, I saw Rick doubled over from the blow to his stomach as he took a few seconds to right himself. A girl who looked barely ten started crying, another alien cuffing her, causing her to splay on the floor as he kicked her to get back in position, causing her to cry more.

I felt something snap as I ran to her, not knowing what I was doing as I rammed the alien with my shoulder, it was like hitting a wall, all I got was a blow to the back of my head, it made me dizzy but left in seconds as I turned to the girl as the alien hit me again.

“You need to get back in line.” I said softly. Pushing her back into position. I got another cuff to the back of the head as my world went fuzzy, but came back quickly as I felt some more fire like pain where I’d been hit.

“The hell fire is still rampant in his system; he’ll keep healing just as fast as we keep hitting him.” The other helper said.

“He should be slaughtered; the Officers are Drefini if they think that they can make anything out of these ignorant Mammals.” He looked at me as if I was some slime as I tried to hit him, his height and reach putting him to far away as I saw flashes of light and my lungs felt as if they were bursting

Taleel’s eyes flashed as he was next to the enforcer in seconds.

“Talk about the Officers that way and you will be the one that is out of the airlock next!” I realized that there was now no lag between them talking and English coming forth. My implants were now translating for me.

The alien seemed to droop as his arm slackened around my neck I fell to the ground as I coughed my breaths.

“Yes Officer Taleel.” The alien said, looking at the deck. Taleel went to the front of the line.

“Let’s see how much hell fire can fix.” They began kicking and punching me with glee, leaving a few minutes later with my body and bones broken, I could feel them sitting back into position painfully as muscle tissue repaired itself.

“Watch yourself mammal.” The enforcer hit me as I passed out.

I woke up again minutes later. My body filled felt like it was on fire as every muscle tensed painfully. I found myself unable to move as bones popped into place and reformed together.

After having the ports bored into my back, the broken bones being forced together was jarring. It was painful and weird, but it was bearable.

Rick came to me, helping me up slowly, his own nerve ports gleaming in the absurdly bright lights of the room.

“You okay?” Rick asked, pitching his voice low so the others couldn’t hear him. Wincing as his ports moved.

I put on my most winning smile straightening myself hiding the pain.
 
Would I want to be lied to?
 
I thought as I slumped.

“It’s pretty painful and scary“

I looked at their scared faces. “But I know everyone can make it through it.” I smiled, hoping they gained some kind of confidence.

The younger ones were blatantly staring at my back.

“They’re so shiny.” One boy said, probably around fourteen.

“They are huh? I can’t really see them.” I remarked as I made to look at my own.

“How much did it hurt?” An even younger girl asked, probably around eight.

“Quite a bit, but I know all of you can do it.”
 
 
 
If you want to or not because Tallel will have you hauled in there.

Taleel gave me a strange stare as I backed away. I was dizzy from the pain, the weird atmosphere which was now hard to see in as well as hard to breathe, and the increased gravity.

We’ll be waiting for you when you’re done.” I said to them with a smile. Rick and I sat down near the exit from the showers. We were careful not to lean against the wall.

Rick turned to me, anger in his eyes.

“What kind of fucked up military does this to children?” I didn’t think to remind him how children were used as soldiers all over Earth. I still agreed with him.

“One that needs to be ended.” I said, gauging his reaction. He nodded as he touched his ports, flinching as he found cold metal. It was a moment before he talked again.

“How do you look so confident?”
 
Gotcha
 
I thought as he wasn’t arguing the point now, but rather trying to figure out himself how he’d be able to mimic me.

“I just smile and act natural; we don’t want to scare them.” I said under my breath my back to the others.

“But…”

“Now laugh like we’re sharing a joke.” I did so Rick taking his cue from me and hiding his fear amiably. I didn’t need a panicked group of people on my hands. My time in an orphanage showed me that scared people are the worst people to be around. I needed malleable and useful people.

He paused, as if in thought.

“They must be some kind of interface between our neural pathways and some piece of technology.” He surmised as a look of curiosity and excitement passed over his face.

“What part of the Air force were you in?” I asked as he looked to me.

“I was a guard originally, you know patrol airbases. Then after a few comments to an engineer I was selected for a think tank.”

“On what?” I pried, suspicion coloring my mind.

“On developmental technologies.”

“I thought it might’ve been something like that.” I grinned.

“Why?” He asked with a perplexed look.

“Your eyes lit up as you began wondering the potential for the technology.”

“Ahh.” He said looking a little embarrassed before shrugging.

“I’m a nerd, and new things interest me.” He grinned as I couldn’t help but return it. “Though these new things are quite uncomfortable.” He added.

“I know, I did it too.” I was trying to find a comfortable place on the wall to rest so that my new ports wouldn’t touch it and elicit more pain.

“Why did you put up that charade?”

“I want them to be confident.”

“Why?”

“Simply because I know them more than I know another group.” I think it was time to spin some bull, for the good of morale of course.

“Plus, it would set back my planning for breaking out.” I wouldn’t say it was a complete lie, if I could escape I would, but the opportunities looked to be very slim indeed.

Rick’s eyes lit up at this as he looked back at me, hope in his eyes, the hope monkey had him. Now I had to get a few more loyal to me and I could start putting a plan into action-whatever plan I came up with that is.

The door opened to the chair room as the shower opened. One of the smallest kids, no more than seven came up to me. He probably recognized me as Salchar the gamer, and latched onto me because I
 
 
 
was something familiar from his regular life.

I seized up for a second as he wrapped his hands around my neck in a hug. He was so small that that his head was level with mine as I sat.

He wiped his eyes his body shuddering as he looked at me.

“That
 
Huuuurt.”
 
he said into my neck, sniffling

Sadness tore at me as I hugged him back, patting his back, careful to miss his ports nakedness and awkwardness forgotten.

“My name’s Salchar. What’s yours?” I said gently.

“I’m George Everez.” He said, his body jerking from the after effects of constant, ferocious crying.

“Well George you’ve got cool new ports don’t you?” He nodded numbly.

“But I want my Mommy.” He said hyperventilating as if he was building up for another crying episode.

He wrapped his arms around me as he cried silently, after a few minutes he peeled away, taking hiccuping breaths as he’d run out of steam.

“I know George, but you got through that just now, you can get through anything.” I said with a kind smile. He looked up to me, searching for more.

“That’ makes you like us adults.” A look filled his eyes, one of a child that didn’t understand adulthood but wanted to be one all too much.
 
I have a feeling you’ll be an adult sooner than you think.
 
I thought unhappily. “I need you to do something special for me.”

“What?” He asked temporary mollified with the idea he could do something adult.

“I want you to calm down the people as they come out of the showers.”

“Why?” He said clearly not understanding how that was adult.

“Then you can show how brave you are being one of the first, and they’ll stop crying too, because they’ll want to be as adult as you.” He looked at his feet, nodding.

“I’ll help.” He said, a glimpse of a smile appearing. I grinned in reply, messing up his hair as he tried to bat me away, a grin forming on his face as I stood up.

I wanted to cry and lash out in frustration, though it would do me no good. I needed to get my family back together, and then we would destroy these bastards, every last one of them. I kept smiling as I watched George go talk to the other kids, everyone listening to him, a few crying and others looking defeated. But there was a glimmer of hope.

He turned to the door and walked over to it slowly as one of the younger kids came out, bawling their eyes out as well. George got them to stop within a few minutes as I felt more guilt hit me as I was using the kids just as this planetary defense force was.
 
I just used George like these aliens did. Though I’ll do my best to keep him happy.
 
I looked to the other kids in line.
 
All of them happy
.

It felt like I was in the orphanage intake. That had always been a depressing place, where children were introduced to the home for one reason or another, their parents giving them up, or dying and no one else wanting them. They would cry for days, weeks and months, realizing that no one was coming for them.

It had been a great place to set up my gaming station as no one wanted to go there for the racket. Though I found the children if they were tired of crying would find me, gathering around to watch me play video games, temporarily leaving reality behind. That was what I was getting George to make the others do. For a few minutes they could think that they didn’t want to cry in front of someone younger than them. I’d keep their minds off of what was happening by any means necessary until I could get them away from these bastards and back to their families to live out their childhoods.

I knew, just like those kids that entered the intake at the orphanage, none of them would be the same.

A group of kids had gathered around me, I had them telling one another their names and let them take it from there. The older ones wandered by, striking up an attempt at conversation. I made idle chat getting a few names and striking up some conversation that was essentially the same with every person.

“So you’re Salchar eh?”

“Yeah; the one and only, why do you ask?”

“I watched a few of your games, remember when…” They’d talk about some fragment of a game I barely remembered and talk about how it was a brilliant win, or what they would’ve done and such. It was strange; here we were abducted and still talking like we were on Earth.