The Colossal Starship (G/T)

Part 2

In the vast desolation of space, traveling takes an eternity. The mysterious pod we were stuck inside continued to rocket through freezing emptiness for days. Our nerves were strained from being on edge for so long. We took turns sleeping so that we would not be caught unprepared. Our rations were almost gone, forcing us to eat smaller meals in order to stretch out our limited supplies. Hunger and fatigue only added to our misery.

Tonight—if there can exist such a thing as night in eternal darkness—it was my turn to keep watch while everyone else slept. Thus, I was the first one to spot the alien spaceship. Our unknown destination had finally been revealed in all its terrible splendor. The probe slowed to a crawl as it drew closer. I gaped in astonishment at the massive size of the great vessel that loomed over us. It was an enormous beast of a machine, graceful with its smooth aerodynamic curves that expanded outward, glorious with its spotless, shining chrome, fearsome with the wide array of artillery that spanned the wings. The shape reminded me of a raptor ready to snatch up prey in its talons.

I glued myself to the window, forgetting all about my responsibility to wake the rest of the crew for a brief moment. When I suddenly remembered, I tore my eyes from the window and sounded the alarm. The crew came piling in, irritated at the interruption to their sleep until they saw the incredible display before them. The giant ship eclipsed our pod in shadow. We all stared in amazement as our capsule glided into a docking station inside the ship, coming to rest in a row of identical capsules. Our journey had come to an end.

None of us spoke, not even Evans. The docking station for the pods was cloaked in darkness, so we couldn't see beyond our cylindrical prison. The steady, low-frequency thrum of the foreign engines of the ship created an eerie ambience. After a few minutes, Hill silently went over to one of the consoles and activated the few external sensors that were still functional.

"The air outside is breathable," he mentioned quietly. "If we want, we can access our lower decks now."

Björn processed this information, then replied, "we should go down and ready the escape pods. They might be our only way out." Crawford nodded in agreement. We all went downstairs to examine what we could salvage. The lower decks were a mess. When the bulkhead had been pierced, the air had been sucked out, and the artificial gravity had failed, causing loose articles to be strewn everywhere. Blood splattered the walls, the furniture, even the ceilings. Bloated corpses of suffocated crewmates, people we had known and worked with, were scattered about in odd places. I felt ill and had to turn my head from the gruesome sight.

Thankfully, there were two escape pods that were still intact and full of emergency supplies. The pods were compact, and would be cramped with three or four people inside, but we could manage. While we were rummaging through the supplies, we heard a distant thunder outside. All of us froze. Something about the sound chilled my blood. The sound came closer, a repetitive thumping that rattled our whole ship. My stomach twisted into knots when I recognized the cadence as footsteps. Whatever being was walking our way was gigantic.

From inside our ship, we heard the jaws of the capsule slide open with a screech. We felt our ship lifting into the air. After a pause, we started to move, rocking with great strides that jostled us about. The thunderous footsteps quaked beneath us. The giant alien was carrying the whole ship. The entire ship. Even with most of our cargo gone, the ship had to weigh hundreds of tons. And this creature was just carrying us like it was no big deal. I ran to the nearest window to see, but the window was obscured by... something. An indistinguishable, sickly pale yellowish mass, with ridges and texturing that reminded me of skin.

Just as I was about to move to another window, the ship was set down with a mighty crash that knocked me off my feet. The thing blocking the window slithered off, scraping the side of the ship with sharp protrusions that looked like horns. I scrambled to get up and look outside, with the others peering over my shoulders. The room outside appeared to be a science lab, with all sorts of interesting samples of asteroids, rocks, and other materials. Test equipment, beakers, and tools filled the cabinets and littered the metal tables. Our vantage point was apparently from table height. The room was not proportional to us at all, and was probably more to scale with the behemoth that picked up our vessel.