Joseph sat at the navigational station and watched a green glowing dot follow the path he’d plotted for the escape ship to enter the refueling station’s planetary system. Bored to tears, the deputy found the process of flying this ship tedious. Well, the word tedious might be a bit of an understatement.

  Maybe dreadfully dull would be a more appropriate description, he thought glumly.

  Not that the ship didn’t respond to his commands. On the contrary, their current mode of travel was easily controlled from this little station. And when merely traversing between far away star systems, the point and click interface was more than capable of getting them where they needed to go. However, this ease of use quickly disappeared upon entering a planetary system.

  Why? Because any direction other than forward depended on a series of small thruster pods which covered most of the ship. Unfortunately, the power they produced was designed to be minimal. That meant making course adjustments to such a cumbersome vessel was slow. And for someone who liked quick response time in the machines they used, such delicate and exacting maneuvers were nothing short of soul crushing.

  Still, slow or not, this escape ship needed fuel.

  “We’re about to begin our initial pass of the station.” Joseph rechecked their position on the screen one more time. Sure enough, the green dot was practically on top of their destination. “Justine, you should have visual contact with the refueling station any minute.”

  “Blarb...” The nonsensical word was all she could get out of her mouth at that exact moment in time. Not because she didn’t have a more coherent response for the deputy’s words. Obviously, she did. No, her mental hiccup stemmed from the awe-inspiring sight that presented itself before her just outside the translucent sheet of metal.

  “Sorry,” Joseph followed up. “I didn’t catch that last bit.”

  “She’s having a nerdgasm right now. Just give her tiny human brain a minute to process all the new sights.”

  Still not answering, Justine pressed her hands against the clear surface and stared wide eyed at the two things within her visual range. The refueling station and the planet. Only the sight unfolding before her wasn’t one of Hoover’s light infused holograms. It was real.

  “I have visual contact.” Justine finally managed to say after her eyes stopped wandering enough to focus on their target.

  Surrounded by swirling hues of red, orange and brown atmospheric gases, the refueling station floated against the planet’s side profile like a perfectly placed cosmic Christmas tree ornament. One that invited both awe and fear in the person viewing it from afar. Slightly intimidated, she squinted her eyes for a better look at the rotating piece of metal.

  At first, the circular spheres that made up the outer ring of the station were nothing but lumps of indistinguishable blobs of gray against the alien sky. However, something strange began to occur as she tried harder to make out any subtle differences. Because slowly, almost imperceptibly, the station’s rough edges began to sharpen. And not from their ship’s engines bridging the distance between them.

  No, something else was happening. Something...

  “Foster,” Justine said as the seams between the station’s outer plates became clear. “Why is my eyesight getting better.”

  “What?” Foster asked in a way that suggested he knew this question would eventually be asked. “What do you mean?”

  “Don’t answer my question with a question, Foster.” Justine’s voice raised an octave out of pure shock as the tiny rivets also became visible to her naked eyes. “Why are my eyes acting like telescopes right now?”

  “Probably because you’re focusing on something really hard?”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means that the mad scientist gave you a little boost.”

  “Boost?” Justine thought about delving deeper into that statement, but the refueling station was creeping up on them fast. Almost too fast. Although now she wasn’t sure if the reduction in distance was due to the ship’s momentum or her apparently enhanced vision. “Let’s put a pin in that for now. How far are we away from beginning the docking sequence?”

  “Thirty seconds.” Foster said a little too quickly. “Just let me know when the docking port lines up with the ship.”

  “Roger that, Foster.” She could practically hear sighs of relief with every syllable he uttered.

  Thirty seconds later, Justine watched in fearful awe as the escape ship sidled up to the side of the refueling station’s docking port. It was then that she heard a series of tiny engines begin to ignite along the outside of the hull. Low and intermittent, these vector thrusters slowly and precisely nudged the ship closer to its goal.

  Until, after a few tense seconds, the window she stood in front of slowly filled up with a large octagonal opening. “I think I see the fuel port.”

  “That’s what I’m seeing up here too.” Joseph said with an exuberant tone to his voice. “How are we tracking? Do we look stable?”

  No longer in need of her newly telescopic eyes, Justine stepped back a few feet and tried to line up what she thought was the ship’s intake receptacle with the station’s fuel port.

  At first blush, the two openings looked like they were lined up perfectly. However, before she could relay this observation to her companions on the bridge, the scene shifted as the station began to move violently to the right.

  In response to the port’s sudden movement, she could hear the vector thrusters being reignited. Almost instantly, Justine saw the fuel port ease back into her field of view. Fingers crossed, she once again tried to visually line up two ports. Unfortunately, this move proved premature.

  Because as soon as the view returned to its first position, the station made another quick course adjustment in attitude. Only this time, instead of shifting quickly to the right, the station veered off suddenly to the left.

  “Is the station purposefully trying not to dock with us?” Justine asked out loud.

  “Joseph?” Foster asked. “What’s the problem?”

  “Well, it’s not like the station is doing this on purpose.” The deputy muttered. “It’s the mass of the ship.”

  “What would that have to with it?”

  Justine could hear a series of buttons being punched over her earpiece. This frantic tactile response was quickly followed by what sounded like someone smacking an open hand down on a piece of metal. In that moment, she could almost perfectly envision the deputy’s exaggerated face as he assaulted his tiny workstation.

  “I mean.” Joseph said in an exasperated way. “This is not a small ship. And every time we get close enough to dock, the ship’s mass is throwing off the station’s orbit. When that occurs, the station responds to that change by performing its own set of course corrections.”

  “What do you mean ‘own set of course corrections’?” Foster asked nervously. “I thought you said that station was unmanned.”

  “Calm down. These stations have autocorrecting systems for such events. This is just a byproduct of those systems.”

  “You know,” Justine said as her nose practically became implanted in the observation port window. In the distance, the drab colors of the station were almost swallowed up on the edges by the planet’s overpowering visual aura. “I still don’t understand why something this technologically advanced doesn’t have an auto-docking feature.”

  Not waiting for an answer, she laughed to herself while trying to soak up every detail that played out in front of her nerdy eyes. In fact, she was so wrapped up in her own observations that the two minutes of silence escaped her conscious brain. And it wasn’t until another silent minute passed by that an itch began to develop in the back of her mind.

  “Guys?” the sheer impossibility of her hunch being remotely correct seemed too far fetched to contemplate, let alone verbalize. Especially given the amount of brain power currently sitting on the escape ship’s command deck. Still, “You did look for an auto-dock switch. Didn’t you?”

  More silence.

  “Guys?” Her tone was somewhere between an exasperated teacher and stood up prom date. “You did look for one. Right?”

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Again, her questions were initially answered by an uncomfortable silence. She was about to ask again when someone finally responded. Only the words didn’t come from either Foster or Joseph. No, her completely valid inquiry was acknowledged by a computerized voice which rang out from some unseen speakers in the metallic walls.

  “Auto Docking System has been engaged. Prepare for docking.”

  “Excuse me?” Justine suddenly started having flashbacks of a certain transportation tube’s control knob and pair of idiots overthinking the most obvious solution. “Are you telling me that you two were stressing about this for days and there was an automatic pilot system?”

  “No!” Foster blurted out like a kid who just got caught stealing gum from a corner convenience store. “Joseph and I searched the database thoroughly.”

  “How thoroughly? You guys turned it on in about 30 seconds.”

  More uncomfortable silence followed her question before it was Joseph’s turn to come up with a believable excuse. “We checked the system.”

  “Hoover?” Justine had another itch forming in the back of her mind. One that involved a bored artificial intelligence. “Did you know about the auto-docking system?”

  “Of course I did.”

  “You what?!” Foster shouted at his so-called friend over their four-way call. The amount of anger bottled up in that question was palpable. “I don’t understand. I asked you specifically if such a system existed.”

  “You did.” The AI responded with a laugh before finishing his response to Justine’s question. “It was the first thing I found in the navigational system. Of course, it was also the first thing I masked from view.”

  “Why would you do that?” Joseph interjected quickly. “We’ve been freaking out for over a week, practicing our asses off to complete this little maneuver. And now you’re telling us that there was a cheat built into the system all this time?”

  “Yes.”

  “Hoover,” Foster’s trembling voice was barely audible over her earpiece’s speaker. “When exactly were you going to tell us about the auto pilot?”

  “I wasn’t planning on telling you about the auto pilot.”

  “And why not?” Joseph interjected loudly. His own voice dripping with confusion and anger. And, if he was being honest with himself, a tinge of relief.

  “Because watching you guys freak out made me laugh.” Hoover paused for effect. “A lot.”

  Upon hearing his response, a cacophony of expletives and threats exploded into her ear. So many in fact, that she had to pull the damn thing out for a moment. When she finally put the communication device back in, the two men had worn themselves out. “We’re going to talk about this later, Hoover.”

  “If you want.” The AI said impassively. “But you know I get when I’m bored.”

  “Hoover,” Justine turned back toward the observation port. The refueling station had almost grown twice its size. “Were you ever going to tell them?”

  “Of course I was.” The loud system rang out with another warning. “Right after they pulled off their little maneuver. I just wanted them to overcome this obstacle on their own. Like real grown-up humans.”

  “And if things went wrong?” Justine couldn’t help but understand the AI’s reasoning in holding back a simpler solution to their docking problems. After all, some birds had to be thrown out of the nest when learning how to fly. “Then what?”

  “Then I would have stepped in and saved their asses. Just like you did back on the space station.”

  “Stop trying to act like this all wasn’t a big joke to you, Hoover.” Joseph decried. “And for the record, you’re not some role model or an all-powerful protector.”

  “No, I’m not a role model. And besides Foster, I don’t really have a burning need to protect any of you. But you’re right about one thing. This whole set of circumstances is one gigantic joke. One that started with the words, ‘three to beam up’.”

  Before anyone could respond to his not so cryptic dig, the ship’s warning system came on again. “Docking with Addgen Refueling station will commence in 30 seconds.”

  “Addgen?” Joseph flipped a couple of switches on his command console. On his screen, two wireframe models appeared. One denoted the ship while the other one signified the refueling station. He was about to watch the two low resolution sprites merge with one another, when a wholly unrelated thought entered his already full mind. “Why are all the warnings in English?”

  “English?” Justine asked as her mind drifted between the looming refueling station and Hoover’s poor attempt at playing a practical joke. “Probably because Hoover reprogrammed the system’s base language output. You know. To make it easier for us aliens to understand.”

  To this perfectly plausible explanation, she heard nothing but ominous silence. The kind of silence that usually preceded either a horrible death or some previously unknown deception. At that moment, she wasn’t sure which. “Or am I wrong about that?”

  Foster cleared his throat to talk. However, Joseph wasn’t quite finished with his train of thought yet.

  “No,” he said in a tentative voice. “If he reprogrammed the station’s operating system, the words would sound... different. More concise.”

  “What do you mean, ‘more concise’?”

  Just then, the escape ship’s internal systems sent out another update. “Docking sequence has begun. Addgen Station currently adjusting position to allow for refueling.”

  “Do you see?” Joseph said like a dying man who’d just found water in the desert. “The words took longer to say than usual.”

  Again, Foster and Hoover were suspiciously quiet. Justine, on the other hand, played the words over in her mind. And not how she would have said them. But how she remembered them being said just moments ago. As she did, the strangeness of Joseph’s phrasing of the word ‘concise’ began to make sense.

  “Joseph,” Justine began. “Can you manually have the ship’s computer repeat that last statement?”

  “Sure.” He said confidently.

  Another few taps of his finger later and the computerized voice repeated its previous statement. Only this time, she noticed the strange phenomena the deputy was referring to. The words did take longer to say. Like if someone was trying to talk when being slightly drunk or moving at 90 percent of their normal speed.

  “Foster,” Justine asked slowly. “What else did you do to us?”

  For the first time since his initial spike of anger at Hoover’s joke, Foster spoke out loud. “First, the amount of data stored in the prisoner containment facility was massive. I’m talking about something on the magnitude of the Library of Congress.”

  “So,” Joseph asked cautiously. “What does that have to do with us? Or should I say, what else did you do to us?”

  “Listen,” Foster started his explanation. “Most of that data stored there was biographical and linguistic in nature. Now the biographical stuff on the inhabitants of those stasis tubes were too massive to even begin to sift through. Even for Hoover.”

  “So, you left it?” Justine asked in an accusing tone.

  “No way,” Foster said defensively. “Hoover managed to compress most the data on one of his drives for later review. Plus, if given even the slightest choice, I’d prefer not to waste such an abundant resource.”

  “Ok. Then what about the linguistic stuff?” Joseph asked even though he was almost 100 percent sure where that knowledge ended up. “What did you do with that?”

  “Listen. I know it’s cliché to say. But I don’t like being unprepared. And there were so many languages from the prisoners being stored at that facility. And...”

  Foster stumbled over the next words. Not because he didn’t know how to convey his reason for doing what he did. But for the possible violent reactions that decision might elicit in his traveling companions. Still, seven years in prison taught him forgiveness is easier to ask for than permission.

  “These Arbiters seem to have the human body down to a science. Including the deepest recesses of our brains. So, knowing we would eventually run into other species on this journey. I thought it prudent to have a way to communicate. And it’s not like I can just go build some kind of universal translator.”

  “Only you did.” Justine said with a small chuckle. “Just not a mechanical version.”

  With that observation out in the open, silence fell over the group. And it wasn’t until the ship had something else to say that anyone else spoke up.

  “Docking sequence complete.” The ship’s warning system relayed to them in that slow, drawn-out version of English. Only now they knew the words being spoken by the ship wasn’t in English. They were in the native tongue of the ship’s previous occupants. The Seerchin.

  “Foster,” Justine finally said after another moment of silence. “First, is there anything else you decided to place in our heads?”

  “No.” The Madman of Wilson said quickly. “Only the languages and the ability to translate them.”

  “Second, can we speak the languages?”

  “If the data in the containment facility was correct, then yes. We should be able to converse with any alien species we come across that speaks verbally.”

  “Verbally?”

  “Well,” the scientist sounded embarrassed as he spoke. “I couldn’t really account for a species that might converse telepathically. Of course, if a group of aliens could communicate by thought, I doubt we would need to do anything to facilitate a conversation.

  Again, silence fell over the group as the weight of the information and its possible repercussions sank into their consciousness. This pause only lasted for a couple of seconds because Justine needed to make something perfectly clear.

  “Third, don’t ever do anything like this again without my permission, Foster. Do you understand?” The venom and promise behind that threatening question was palpable. In turn, the scientist responded in the most logical and safest way possible.

  “Yes.” The one-word answer spoke volumes.

  “Ok.” Justine’s voice caught for a second. “As long as you understand what you did was unacceptable, then I think it’s safe to say that what you did to us was... absolutely amazing!”

  “What?” Foster asked in a confused voice. “I don’t understand. I thought you would be pissed.”

  “Did you honestly think she was going to be mad at you?” Hoover asked quietly. “You’ve practically made all her dreams come true.”

  Over the earbud, he could hear the young FBI agent squealing loudly in unbridled joy. Squealing. Strangely, the sound of Justine Rushing acting like a four-year-old kid was both unsettling and downright adorable at the same time. However, there was still one person he hadn’t spoken to on the subject.

  “Joseph,” Foster turned toward the person sitting right next to him and braced himself for an onslaught of accusations and warnings. Although for his part, the deputy strangely seemed far less than upset by the shocking news. “Are you alright with this?”

  “Sure,” the deputy gave him a simple smile and a shrug of his shoulders. “Someone tinkering around with my mind isn’t something new. This isn’t even my original brain.”

  Hearing that simple admission, the tension Foster had been holding inside evaporated. Of course, that hidden apprehension quickly returned when Hoover decided to cut communication with the other two members of the group and talk directly to him. “Why did you lie to them?”

  Unwilling to answer that question right now, Foster merely smiled at Joseph’s uncaring attitude and listened intently to Justine squeal with geeky joy. After all, they were happy at that moment or at the very least, content. So, there was no reason to talk about why he’d lied. Or for that matter, discuss all the other secrets he currently kept from them.

  Not that he saw those secrets as lies. No, he thought of them as plans.

  And no matter how close those plans were to lies, they were necessary. For both their current and future survival. He just hoped that by the end of this journey, his companions would come to accept the grayness of his decisions.

  Because whether they approved of them or not, Foster had more of these unspoken plans brewing in the back of his mind.

  So many more.