Short Stories From Out There

To Die With Light In Their Eyes

Jaller scrambled across the engine's surface, checking for microfractures and loose connections. The recon ship had taken a direct hit to its hull, shutting down the engine and sending it spinning off course. They had gotten so close.

As he worked, he listened to the battle announced over the speakers. Technologically speaking, this new race was a bit ahead, but nothing they couldn't overcome.

Due to the unknowns of dealing with aliens, transmissions weren't allowed, so Jaller flew around the engine with wires connecting him to the repair system. Along with the repair work, he had to deal with various snags.

The captain came over his headset. "How far along are you, Jaller?"

"Halfway done, sir. We'll soon be good to go," Jaller replied.

He loved fixing engines, and nothing made him happier. This love was encoded in him before birth, along with his personality traits. As with every member of his race, he had a true purpose.

As he worked, he felt pity for all the worlds they encountered where life was random and finding one's purpose was flailing in the dark. It had taken some doing, but every race they met up to now knew the joy of Predetermination. No one had to wonder if they were in the right place. No one had to get up in the morning and dread the day ahead. He couldn't fathom why anyone would want to hang on to such a miserable existence.

With that last thought, he finished the last weld. All fractures were now repaired, and the engine was ready to go.

"Done! Fire it up!" he shouted into his headset.

The engine came to life in a controlled explosion of energy and centrifugal motion. He laughed aloud as waves of joy washed over him.

They reached their goal a moment later, positioning themselves between their home and the star they were sent to investigate. He heard the life pods ejecting and the subsequent evidence of their destruction. They weren't making it very far. Though there was no sound in space, there was sound when debris from a destroyed pod hit the hull.

Jaller set the necessary traps and laid out various tools to give the targets a false sense of the tech they faced. Anyone analyzing the ship's debris would assume their level of advancement was low.

Heading to an escape pod, he paused briefly at a terminal to absorb more information that had been collected about this new race, focusing on propulsion and power sources. It would be a short fight, and in the end, this race that called itself 'humanity' would be cured of that horrible disease, free will.

As the pod shot into space, he faced the nearby star and threw out his arms. He felt the burning heat of the explosion as his pod tore apart. Like his shipmates, Jaller concentrated on the facts of their targets, smiled, and died, his essence and knowledge caught in the stellar wind that would carry what was left of him home.