The Asteroid Guard

The ship stopped suddenly in mid-air, floated for a moment. Rotating, it lowered itself to land with a bump.

Skylar turned from the controls. ‘Wear the suit. I’ll explain outside.’

I donned the stuffy spacesuit, and followed him out the door of the shuttle.

I drew a gasp. The sky had a million mirror shards strewn on it. And the ground! The land was made of powdered stars. I couldn’t help but pick up a handful of the soil and let it run through my fingers.

A loud bang made me start. Skylar stood behind me, waving a pistol.

‘So, Lieutenant Veer. If you’re done meddling, let’s get down to business.

‘This is 91 Evelina, a near earth asteroid. It belongs to the government. There were intruders recently and we think they haven’t left yet. This is a valuable asteroid. Your job is to make sure nobody leaves this asteroid with anything they didn’t have before. And that includes you.

‘And – er – stay away from the shuttle. ’

He tossed the gun to me, and returned to the spacecraft. Probably some top secret space science.

I stood there tossing the gun from one hand to the other. It burned brownish-red in the moonlight. It didn’t look in the least bit rusted. 

Skylar yelled into his mouthpiece, ‘What are you waiting for? You aren’t being paid to sit around.’

His voice still reverberating in my ears, I began to walk slowly away from the shuttle.

It was the job of a lifetime, guarding an asteroid, yet I felt uneasy. Every movement I made was probably watched by them inside that shuttle. I don’t even know how many people are in there.

I still couldn’t shake that feeling.

I wandered around the asteroid, watching the purplish black night sky, skipping over the rocks and crevices, and generally searching for anything that moved. Nothing.

I kept moving, though. Gazing at every bit of sky at every angle soon became tiring. Nothing’s happening here.

I lay down on the gravelly grey soil. It was a bit uncomfortable, but it wasn’t too bad.  It was so quiet and warm in my suit. I’ll just rest my eyes for a few moments…

The terrain shook. I jumped up. No wonder I didn’t see anyone. The robbers were underground!

I pointed the gun to the land and pulled the trigger. Reeling from the recoil, I gaped at the black hole in the earth.

Without warning, the earth cracked and crumbled. Dust flew up from everywhere. I stumbled backwards as quickly as I could. I fell over onto a huge rough rock but I pushed myself up and hid behind it.

I wiped my visor with my hands.

A small silhouette climbed out of the hole and heaved out another man. He moaned and struggled, rolling on the ground.

I got out from my hiding place and squinted through the dust to see what was happening. The rasping breaths of the man lying down made my spine shiver. Wait - isn’t vacuum soundless?

I sprinted towards the two intruders. How could they have stolen spacesuits from inside the shelter?

Before I could get close enough to see them clearly, the man on the ground lifted his arm a little to point straight at me. ‘You… ’

The voice trailed off into nothingness.

I leapt behind the rock. I hope the other one didn’t see me.

The man on the ground cried out again. Fingers on the trigger, I rushed forward, trying to get there before the one in the hole got away. I yelled, ‘Hands up!’

The figure on the floor didn’t move. I touched it with my foot. It still didn’t move. I felt a wind blowing softly against my suit. It carried most of the suspended dust away.

I flinched when I saw its eyes.

The figure on the ground wasn’t even a man.

It was hideous. It was a dirty, green skinned, plump creature covered in sticky goo that might have been blood. Its eyes glowed red and it wore a glass bubble full of water on its head. If I could get this back to earth

I knelt down and put my empty hand on its head. The glass just disintegrated at my touch, the earth drank the water, and my hand just went through his head, leaving my glove a slimy mess and the head looking even worse. Thank god I’m wearing a suit.

I tried to shake the goo off my hand, but it wouldn’t budge, so I wiped it on my suit. I went closer to the hole and pointed my gun down there.

‘He was my friend,’ said the alien. ‘We came to get astium to protect our planet. Help me get more.’

‘Why should I help you?’

‘You must help us. My planet Ceta will soon be hit by another and millions of my kind will die. We only have five hours left. Only I am left to save the fate of my planet. In return for your help I will do whatever you want.’

My mind whirled. ‘You have to come to earth with me. You will be treated well there.’ And I’ll be treated even better, once people find out I brought him there.

‘Once we have mined enough astium.’

‘Sure. What does it look like?’

‘It is what you call platinum.’

‘Oh. Okay.’ Skylar will be fuming, but I’m going to be famous. I’ve found the first alien!

I got into the hole and began to dig with my hands. The soil was loose and the platinum was in small shapeless blobs, so it was easy to find.

‘Veer!’

I started. I forgot to switch off my receiver. ‘What are you doing?’

I turned to find myself at gunpoint.

‘The alien - ’

Before I could protest, he’d lifted me out of the hole.

‘You disobeyed a direct order!’

‘But there is an alien!’

‘Yes, I’ve seen him. Green with red eyes, isn’t it? It’s a costume! It’s ploy by people who want to steal government resources! Why didn’t you just listen to me?’

The second alien stood behind Skylar. It looked at me, and –

‘Stay quiet,’ said a voice in my head. ‘This man is trying to kill me. He’s already killed my friend. The body here is a fake. I need to get back to Ceta. There are only a few minutes.’

Okay, I’ll stall him then.

‘No, it isn’t a ploy! What’ve you got in that space shuttle besides people? Cloning machines? DNA replicators? What are you hiding? Why is this place so confidential?’

Skylar stared at me. ‘You know, you’ve become quite a problem,’ he said, in an emotionless voice.

I should have seen it coming.

‘People in this part of the government have a policy about problems.’

‘What’s that? No pain, no gain?’

‘Wrong. No man, no problem.’

The gun stared at me. He shot.

The glass cracked. All the air got sucked out of the suit and I gasped for breath. My vision blurred and my mouth felt terribly dry. He shot me once more, right in the heart.

And in those few moments before I lost everything, I could only hope that Ceta was saved.