Sequence Read Online Free Page B

They’ll get tired or bored eventually.”
    Chris had an image flash into his mind’s eye of one of those attacks succeeding and breaching the hull of the ship. He’d never had to wonder what it would be like to suffocate in space, but he did now. Then again, as far as he could tell, not a single shot had hit or damaged the ship.
    The captain said, “These guys don’t give up. Open a one way communication to let them see that we’re not who they think we are.”
    “Done.”
    The captain put on his football helmet and said to the attackers, “We are not an enemy. We are explorers. Please stop firing upon us.”
    “They’re hailing us,” the first mate said.
    “Open it.”
    The monitor flickered with static as the alien signal was converted. Then an image appeared on the monitor that was so odd that Chris couldn’t quite wrap his head around it. On the monitor was a female human. Well, she was almost human. She was hairless and her skin was a pale orange color. Her teeth were all fused together and her ears and nose were too small to see. But she was humanoid. She wore loose robes in a kaleidoscope of colors and her face was tattooed with black swirling markings, but she was the closest thing he’d seen to a human since he’d boarded the ship.
    She said, “I apologize for attacking your ship. I assumed you were the Grays returning to finish us off.”
    “We are a research vessel. We were stunned to see your planet in ruins. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
    She smiled sadly. “It’s funny. There were those who tried to warn us that the Grays existed and that they were among us, but we didn’t believe them. We thought they were delusional, or just simple crack-pots. We thought the Grays were a fairy tale.”
    The captain nodded solemnly. “How many of your people are left?”
    Chris couldn’t be sure, but he thought he heard a hint of expectation in the captain’s robotic voice.
    The female avoided answering the question. “My name is Samda. Who are you?”
    “You can call me Captain.”
    Samda chuckled reflexively. “Okay then, Captain. What do you want?”
    “We need a sample of DNA from one of your people , Samda. We need a live specimen for our grand experiment.”
    Samda laughed heartily. She said more soberly, “So even though I just told you that my species has nearly been wiped out, you want to deplete our ranks even more by taking one of us? I don’t think so.”
    The captain laughed as Samda vanished from view. The monitor now showed the inside of a darkened and cavernous ship.
    The first m ate said, “Got her, Captain.”

Snatch and Grab
     
    Samda was going crazy in the little holding cell. She yelled, “ Let me go or you’ll all die!”
    The captain snickered and said to Chris, “Didn’t she already try that?”
    He was right. The alien ship she’d come from was no match for the one they were on. It couldn’t move the same way.
    The captain adjusted his football helmet translation device and said sternly, “This cannot be undone. You are with us now. Your mission of revenge against the Grays is over. Our mission supersedes yours.”
    “Fuck you. This is a crime.”
    “Not from our perspective.”
    Samda threw her oversized body at a wall and it actually buckled from the impact.
    The first mate asked, “Is she strong enough to get out?”
    “I don’t think so. B ut best to knock this one out I think.”
    The f irst mate nodded at his men and said, “Pull up the intel and see if her species can be subdued chemically. If it can be, make it happen.”
    S oon enough, a white mist descended from the ceiling of the cell.
    Samda coughed and struggled but it was no use. She curled up in a fetal position on the floor and started to sob uncontrollably , her multi-colored robes twisted around her body as she writhed futilely.
    It made Chris’ heart break. This time it appeared as though the captain and his men were the bad guys. Maybe they were just zealots, unconcerned with how they