The Alpha Protocol: Alpha Protocol Book 1 Duncan Hamilton (affordable ebook reader .TXT) 📖

Samson held a finger up to his lips and pursed them, gesturing in the clearest way he could think of to tell the alien not to say another thing. It glared at him with hate in its eyes as Price secured its hands again, then pushed it forward and it walked into the ship.

38

Samson tried to contain his curiosity to what was immediately relevant when he stepped into the alien ship. The hatch was halfway along the fuselage, so he had Price goad the alien toward the front where he expected the controls to be, if there were any. The hatch’s voice activation was an interesting indication as to how the aliens controlled their equipment, and it seemed reasonable to assume their piloting interface might be very different to anything he was familiar with.

When they got to the front of the ship, they were greeted by an area with two seats and what looked to be a command and control station. There was nothing that Samson would have expected to see—no obvious helm or propulsion controls. Despite the fact that they could easily be incorporated into touch-screen displays, humanity had stuck with the physical controls, even if the inputs they provided were converted into digital signals. Still, there was something comforting about having them there, visible on the ship’s bridge. The aliens didn’t seem to have any such sentiment.

‘Will you be able to get the Maggie into position to use the tractor down here?’ Samson said as he continued to look around, doing his best to attribute human ship functions to the various parts of the alien design. He knew manoeuvring a ship to take on a tow in space would be very different, and far, far easier, than it would be down here.

‘Not a problem,’ Smith said, smiling. He tapped his intercom. ‘Send over the rat-catcher.’ He swore under his breath as the open channel played white noise, and looked over at his men. ‘Radio’s misbehaving again. Which one of you fancies a run?’

No one said anything. ‘Bad luck, Bert, you just volunteered. Hoof it back to the Maggie and get them to send over the rat-catcher.’

Bert nodded reluctantly, and set off.

‘Rat-catcher?’ Samson said.

‘My better idea,’ Smith said. ‘I didn’t come down here unprepared.’

‘How long will it take?’

‘Depends on how fast Bert runs. He’s quick enough when the mood takes him.’

Samson had to console himself with the fact that the Maggie wasn’t too far away, and the distance could be covered quickly when there wasn’t anything shooting at you. He continued wandering around what he took to be the ship’s bridge, afraid to touch anything, all under the watchful and hostile gaze of the alien. There were other compartments at the back of the ship, but Samson was reluctant to go digging too deeply. He had no idea what surprises might lurk back there, and would prefer for a naval tech who knew what they were doing to discover them. He probably shouldn’t have even forced entry to the ship, but there was only so much self-control he could exert on himself.

With his curiosity sated for the time being, they went back outside. A deep rumbling sound filled the air, and a brick-shaped ship appeared over the rise. It took Samson a moment to recognise what it was.

‘That’s an SBB—a seizure and boarding barge,’ Price said.

‘Really?’ Smith said. ‘And to think all this time I’ve been using it to drop the grandkids to school.’

‘Where the hell did you get it?’ Price said.

‘Probably best not to ask,’ Smith said.

Equipment like that was as integral a part of a Marine’s life as a carbine, and Samson could see that Price was affronted that Smith had one. It was an aggressive vessel, specifically designed for the Navy. It had powerful magnetic locking clamps, and a number of borehole boarding tubes that could cut straight through a vessel’s hull and allow Marines access without the troublesome need to line up with an airlock. In addition, it had parasite systems that would take over the power and control of the vessel it had latched onto, and engines powerful enough to land and lift off a planet’s surface with heavy machinery in its grip. Only the Navy had them. And Kingsley Smith, it seemed. It would make getting the alien ship off the planet, where the Maggie could take it in tow, much easier.

Smith tried his intercom again, but there was nothing, so he waved the ship down. It hovered sideways until it was over a flat section then dropped down to the ground.

Bert got out a moment later, and Smith went over to talk to him. Clearly they could use the SBB to lift the alien ship into orbit for the Maggie to grab onto for return to Capsilan.

Bert jumped back in, moved the SBB over the alien ship, and slowly descended on top of it. There was a loud clunk as the magnetic clamps gripped onto it.

Smith held his wrist console up to the open hatch on the side of the alien ship and tapped it. The alien’s voice played, and the hatch closed.

‘Ha,’ Smith said. ‘Wasn’t sure if that would work. Tell you what, I’ll give you a copy of the recording I’ve made of this mission for another pardon—for things I haven’t done yet.’ Smith fixed his gaze on Samson’s face, and broke into a broad smile when Samson frowned.

‘Don’t worry,’ Smith said, chuckling. ‘You can have it for nothing. I’m not planning anything nefarious. Not anymore.’

They all stepped back to be out of the SBB’s downdraft, sheltering their eyes from flying dust as its power plant whined and it took the strain of the alien ship’s weight. Slowly but surely, they both lifted off the ground, then the SBB began its slow and laborious ascent out of the planet’s gravity well with its alien cargo firmly attached.

Price stood next to the alien, surrounded by Smith’s