Omega Rising by Joshua Dalzelle

fully realize what it was that he had stumbled into, and he suddenly felt very, very small. Not only had he inadvertently gotten himself shanghaied aboard an alien spacecraft, but now the sole occupant (a smart-assed alien machine) wanted to take him along on a job of some sort. What could the ramifications of this be? What if something unforeseen happened and, as Earth's unofficial, unsanctioned ambassador to the stars, his world was made to suffer the consequences for his actions? His thoughts drifted to the beautiful blonde in the picture he carried; what would happen to her? He quickly shoved the entire line of reasoning from his head lest he rip open that wound again. While she was never far from his mind, he had learned to keep those memories buried, if only just under the surface.
    Even as he went through the mental tedium of trying to talk himself out of going along with Deetz on this mission, he knew what his answer would be in the end. In spite of everything, the adventure was simply too much for him to pass up. That same lust for excitement that made him enlist in the Air Force at eighteen was also pushing him to climb aboard the gunship and blast off for the stars.

                  "Jason, can you hear me?"

    Speaking of the devil...
     
                  "Yes Deetz, I copy. What can I do for you? Over."

                  "Over what?"

                  "Nevermind," Jason rolled his eyes, "What do you need?"
    "Just curious about how much longer you'll be. We're about done with repairs and will be ready for lift in approximately an hour."

                  "Already? That was fast."

                  "Not especially so. You've been out there for a few hours now."
    Jason rose easily to his feet, looking like a gymnast in the light Martian gravity. "I'm on the bounce. I'll be back shortly." Ha. On the bounce... He laughed at the irony of using a line from one of his favorite novels, Starship Troopers, as he actually bounced across an alien planet in a spacesuit. If only Heinlein could see him.
    Approaching the gunship Jason could see significant changes, most notably to the hull, which had been splotchy with burn marks and scarred by blast impacts. It was now smooth and shone dully in the light like burnished steel. The cargo ramp was still down so Jason bounced up and into the hold, stumbling slightly as the gravity doubled. It appeared that artificial gravity had been restored, so Jason had to assume the slip-drive reactor was also up and running without incident. After popping the seal on his helmet and removing it Jason could really feel what the damage control system had done. The ship positively hummed with energy; a low-frequency, omnipresent tingle that hadn't been there before. As he made his way across the cargo bay Deetz's voice came over the ship's public address.
    "Meet me in the room you suited up in and I'll help you out of that thing. We should be ready to get out of here once you're dressed again."
    It was at least forty minutes after boarding before Jason was free of the exo-atmospheric suit. "These things aren't really designed to be quick or convenient. Nearly anyone who would serve aboard a ship like this would have a much more capable combat suit that they would wear. These are more contingency items." This last comment brought Jason's thoughts right back to the missing crew, and the synth's evasiveness about where they might be. He decided to ignore the thought that was nagging at the back of his mind, as he had more or less decided to go with Deetz on this cargo run. Dwelling on it wouldn't do him any good.
    As he laced up his boots while sitting on a bench, he asked Deetz a question, "So how long of a flight is it to this cargo pickup?" Silence. Looking around, he noticed he was talking to himself as the synth was nowhere in the room. "Well what the fuck?" He couldn't believe Deetz had been able to so easily exit the room without