Chapter 40: We are so Screwed

"Hey, hey, you okay? You alright?"

Marcus slowly opened his eyes, and once they had adjusted to the light, he realized he was lying on a cold, metal floor. His head was pounding as he slowly picked himself up.

"About time you woke up. I was starting to think they'd fried your brains or something."

Marcus stood in front of the source of the voice: an African-American female wearing a merc veteran outfit. "My head feels like it's going to explode."

"Don't worry, that headache will get better. I don't know if it will matter...but, it will get better."

Marcus continued to rub his head. "Where am I?"

"Well believe it or not, we've been kidnapped by aliens, kid. And no, it's not a bad dream."

Aliens? The spaceship. The blue light. Sarah! "Sarah...where's Sarah?"

"Who?"

Marcus began to frantically look around. "Sarah...the woman I was with! I gotta find her." He spotted what looked like an open doorway and ran towards it.

The merc tried to grab him. "No don't..."

Marcus slammed into an invisible barrier, and the shock it sent through him knocked him back on the ground.

The merc just shook her head. "Yeah...I wouldn't touch that."

Marcus groaned as he sat back up. It was then that he realized he was wearing nothing but his boxer shorts. "Where the hell are my clothes?"

The merc shrugged. "Beats me. They must really like you, though. They've had me on the table a few times, and I can't remember half of what they did to me. Which...is probably a good thing." She helped Marcus to his feet, and she noticed he was blushing. "Oh come on now! It's not like you've got something I ain't never seen before."

Marcus looked down at his current state again. "It's not that I just...hope these guys didn't probe anything too...intimate."

The merc busted out laughing. "You're alright, kid. Name's Somah. What's your's?"

Marcus held out his hand. "Marcus Lincoln."

Somah accepted his hand and shook it. "Pleased to meet you."

Marcus was taken aback by her response. "You...don't know me?"

"Should I?"

Marcus was confused. This woman looked and sounded like she was from the Capital. "How long have you been here, Somah?"

"Well I've kinda lost track, but...I'm guessing about two years, give and take."

Marcus' eyes shot wide open. Two years!

Somah must have seen the panic on his face because she was quick to reassure him. "Don't worry; it's obvious you and your friend just got here, and if you want to find her, we're gonna have to get out of this cell."

Marcus touched the screen on his PIPBOY. "Moira, are you still with me?"

The screen remained blank, and Marcus began to fear the worst. Had the aliens deleted or removed her? "Moira?"

A few moments later the AI's avatar appeared. "I'm still here."

Marcus let out the breath he was holding. "For a minute I thought they'd erased you."

"Well they tried! I had to shut down just about every system just to hide from them. At one point they tried to remove the PIPBOY, but lucky for both of us they couldn't figure out how to do it without taking off your arm...yet."

"Hey, hey, who the hell is that?" Somah asked.

Marcus showed her the PIPBOY's screen. "This is Moira, she's an AI."

The avatar waved and smiled. "Hi."

A small grin appeared on Somah's face. "Well, aren't you just full of surprises. We just might get out of here after all."

Marcus walked over to the cell's entrance. "Moira is there anyway you can hack open this...door?"

Moira shook her head. "I wouldn't even try it. These guys have technology far beyond anything I've seen. Their anti-virus programs would probably kill me."

Marcus cursed and looked over at Somah. "I don't suppose you have a plan B?"

"As a matter of fact I do. You see, I'm thinking they did us a favor putting us in here together like this, and I say we use that to our advantage."

Marcus nodded. "Makes sense. What do you have in mind?"

"They're watching us, you know that right? So I say we give'em a little show; something to get their attention. They obviously want us alive, and the last thing they want is for us to kill each other. I say we stage a little fight, and when the guards come in to break us up, we jump'em."

Marcus stared at the merc as if she had two heads. "That's your plan! We beat the shit out of each other!"

Somah's eyes narrowed. "You got a better one?"

Marcus looked around the cell and sighed. "No."

"Well alright then. Now we have to make it look real...but not too real. Don't worry, I'll go easy on ya."

That last comment made Marcus' left eyebrow go up. "Alright...let's do it."

They began to dance around the cell and throw punches at each other. At first the punches were awkward and timid, but soon they both started putting more force behind them, and soon Marcus had a fat lip, and Somah a bloody nose. As Marcus had her pinned against the wall, pretending to choke her, Somah noticed two aliens with shock batons standing outside the cell. "Okay they're coming. Get ready."

Marcus nodded, and he could hear foot steps behind him as the aliens entered the cell. Just as the first alien was about to strike with the baton, Marcus spun around punched the green creature in it's face, knocking it across the room. Somah pounced on the second alien, grabbing the shock baton and twisting it out of the creature's...hand. The alien let out a high pitched screeched, indicating that it was hurt. Somah smashed the creature in the head with the baton, knocking it unconscious.

With both aliens taken care of, Marcus picked up the other shock baton and studied the strange creatures. They were green with no hair, their heads were large in contrast to their skinny bodies, and they had three fingers. Their face was flat, with no nose or ears, and their eyes were large and slanted. "Physically they're not very tough."

"No...but their tech gives them a hell of an edge, so we better get out of here before more of them show up."

Marcus followed Somah through the doorway, and he began searching the rest of the cells for Sarah.

Cell Block 2; the other side of the alien ship...

Sarah woke up with a tremendous headache, and the first thing she heard was the sound of someone muttering to them self. As she slowly picked herself up off the metal floor, Sarah realized she was wearing nothing but her tank top and underwear. "Well this is not a good sign." she mumbled. Her attention was again on the muttering, and she spotted another female, also in her underwear, pacing back and forth at the other end of the room.

"This can't be real! This is just a bad dream!" The woman kept repeating.

Sarah slowly approached the obviously distraught woman. "Hey. Are you alright?"

The woman would not acknowledge her. She just continued to pace around with a blank stare on her face. "This is just a dream! Any minute now I'll wake up."

Sarah grabbed her by the shoulder and began to shake her. "Hey! Snap out of it!"

The woman just frantically shook her head. "It's not real! It's not real! It's not re..."

Sarah, having lost all patients, slapped the woman in the face, then followed up with a back-hand. "Knock it off!" she screamed.

The woman responded by head bunting Sarah in the face, then kicked her in the chest and knocked her against the wall. As blood ran from her nose, Sarah struggled to see as the woman charged at her, and the Sentinel rolled out of the way at the last moment. The woman, who a moment ago had the thousand yard stare, now had a look of rage in her eyes. Sarah could tell by the way she moved and her stance that the woman had some limited training, and she too, put her hands up in a defensive stance. The woman charged again and began throwing punches, but Sarah managed to dodge and block them. Sarah wasn't trying to hurt this woman, who was obviously not in her right mind, but she was determined to stop her. Sarah landed a good right hook, and managed to pin the woman against the wall. "Listen to me! I don't want to hurt you but you need to stop!"

The woman continued to resist, but now Sarah could hear foot steps behind her. Her training kicked in, and she spun around with her arms up just in time to block a shock baton from coming down on her head. For just a moment, Sarah stood frozen as she got her first look at the alien holding the weapon. Snapping out of her shock, Sarah quickly drove her left fist into the alien's face, knocking him back, and she followed up with a sweep kick to the creature's leg; knocking him to the ground and out of the fight. But she didn't see the second alien, and the shock baton smashed into the back of her head, sending her to the ground. Sarah rolled on her back, and the alien raised the baton up high, ready to strike.

The alien suddenly crumpled to the ground before he could strike, and the woman who Sarah had been fighting was standing there, a shock baton in her hand. For a moment the two women just stared at each other, until finally Sarah's new companion held out her hand. "Come on! We gotta get out of here!"

Sarah hesitated before finally accepting her hand and stood up. "Thank you."

The woman nodded. "I'm sorry about before it's just that...I don't know who you are, but at least you're human."

Sarah nodded. "I understand; this is all new to me too." She bent down and picked up the other shock baton. "What's your name?"

"Corporal Elizabeth Adams, Rivet City security."

"I had a feeling you'd had some military training. Do you know where we are?"

Adams shook her head. "I don't know. One minute I'm standing watch on the flight deck, and suddenly there's this blue light in the sky and the next thing I know...I'm here."

Sarah took a quick glance around the room. "I was with someone else when I was abducted. He's a little taller then me, has black hair and brown eyes."

Adams shook her head. "No, you're the only one I've seen. Who are you, anyway?

"Sarah Lyons of the Brotherhood."

Adams eyes went wide. "The Sentinel! Does that mean the Lone Wanderer's here?"

Sarah nodded, and her jaw hardened. "He is...and we're gonna find him."

Cell block 1...

After easily taking care of two more alien guards, Marcus and Somah continued to search the cells looking for Sarah...and so far they had come up empty.

"Damn it!" Marcus cursed. "Are there anymore cells on this ship?"

"Man I have no idea! I'm usually knocked out when they move me around this place."

Marcus spotted one last cell at the end of the hallway and he ran to it, but instead of finding Sarah, he found a little girl. "Hello? Hey, can you let me out of here?"

Marcus studied the little girl. She had blonde hair and looked to be about twelve years old, but what stood out to Marcus was her clothes. They looked like the kind of things people wore in old movies from before the war. "Do you know how to open this cell?"

"There's a machine down the other end of the hall you have to shut off. Well, not really shut it off...more like blow it up. If you turn off the coolant, it will get really hot and explode. Just be careful, okay."

Marcus could see the machine from where he was standing. "So it's like some kind of generator?"

The girl shrugged. "I guess."

"How do you know so much about this place?" Marcus asked.

"Oh I've been here for a while. A long while. Sometimes I can sneak out of my cell and explore. I've seen a bunch of the ship. It's pretty neat, but they always catch me and put me back. My name's Sally, by the way."

"How long have you been here, Sally?"

The girl thought for a moment. "Well, I'm not exactly sure. I was taken right after all those bombs fell and killed a bunch of people."

Both Marcus and Somah's jaws dropped open.

"Hold on!" Somah said. "You were there when the bombs fell? That was over two-hundred years ago, it's impossible!"

Marcus couldn't help but chuckle as he remembered the children of Little Lamplight. "No...no it's not." He looked around the ship. "At this point, I think anything's possible. Okay Sally we're gonna get you out of there. Just hold on."

Sally smiled. "Neat!"

Marcus ran over to the alien generator. It took him a few moments, but he figured out it worked similar to a nuclear reactor; and Marcus was grateful for all the times Stanley showed him how to work the reactor in the Vault. Once the three coolant towers were shut down, Marcus and Somah ran down the other end of the hall, and a few moments later the generator exploded. The cell's stasis fields collapsed, and a high pitched alarm began to wail throughout the ship.

"Well if they didn't know we were out before," Somah yelled over the alarm, "they do now."

Sarah and Adams were sneaking their way through the cell block when the ship's alarm began to wail, causing both women to jump.

"Did we do that?" Adams shrieked.

Sarah grinned. "No...but I think I know who did. Come on!"

Sally ran out of her cell and approached Marcus. "Thanks! Are you escaping? I can show you the rest of the ship, but we have to hurry; they'll be here soon."

"Okay." Marcus said. "You wouldn't know were my clothes and gear are, would you?"

"They usually put all the new people's stuff in the next room so they can go through it later. Come on! I'll get the door open." Sally took off running, and Marcus and Somah were right behind her. They found themselves standing in front of a large, round door, and without saying a word, Sally pulled open a small ventilation cover and crawled into the duct.

"Oh great!" Somah groaned. "Well so much for that idea. She suckered you good, hu?"

Marcus glared at her. "Give the girl a chance."

Before Somah could give a retort, four aliens sporting what looked like laser pistols appeared at the other end of the cell block.

"Oh shit!" Somah yelled, and both she and Marcus turned to face the coming threat. A moment later they heard the sound of gears turning behind them, and the door suddenly sprang open.

"Come on, hurry!" Sally yelled.

Marcus and Somah ran through the doorway, just as the aliens opened fire. Marcus scooped Sally up and pressed against the wall as blue laser beams screamed down the hall. "Quick, close the door and smash the controls!"

Marcus pressed the large activation button, and the door slammed shut. He then used his shock baton to smash the controls.

"That should hold them for a while." Sally said. "Your stuff is probably in one of those containers over there."

Marcus made his way over to several large, white containers and began opening them. It didn't take him long to find his power armor and weapons, and he let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you." he said to Sally, and he immediately began to get dressed. It didn't take Somah long to recognized the armor Marcus was getting into. "So you're with the Brotherhood, hu."

Marcus nodded as he secured the suit's latches. "That's right." He turned and stared at her. "Is that a problem?"

Somah shook her head. "No...I'm just glad you know something about fight'n. That girl you're looking for, she wouldn't happen to be Sarah Lyons would she?"

Marcus finished with his armor, and reached inside the crate to remove his weapons. "The one and only."

Somah chuckled. "Man, these aliens have really screwed up."

Marcus locked and loaded his guass rifle, and handed his tri-beam laser rifle to Somah. "Here you go. Think you can handle this?"

"Well I prefer shotguns...but this will do."

After securing the rest of his weapons, Marcus looked down at Sally. "Okay Sally, do you know how we can get out of here?"

"The only way to escape is to go to the top of the ship, but I've never made it that far."

"The top of the ship. You mean the bridge?"

Sally nodded. "That's right. I can take you through the steam works to the big engine room, and from there we can use a telaporter to the top. I've used them before and they're really cool. They're just like the ones on Star Trek."

Suddenly the door they had disabled sprung open, and the four alien guards stormed in. Marcus pulled Sally behind him. "GET BACK!" He took aim at the first alien with his guass rifle and fired. The micro fusion round hit the guard square in the chest, and the creature's body was violently blown to pieces. The scene appeared to shock the remaining three aliens, and Somah took advantage of this and fired her tri-beam, turning another to ashes. The last two aliens opened fire and missed the humans. Marcus activated his VATS and opened fire, blowing another alien's head off, and Somah took out the remaining creature with a shot to the chest.

Sally began to pull on Marcus' arm. "Come on! This way!"

"Hold on!" Somah snapped as she made her way over to the dead aliens. She retrieved two of the laser pistols and tossed one to Marcus. "Here - might come in handy."

Marcus studied the strange weapon for a moment before following Sally into the steam works.

Sarah struck the alien a second time with the shock baton, caving in it's skull. After she and Adam's killed a total of five of the creatures since escaping, Sarah concluded that these aliens were not built for hand-to-hand combat. Their bodies were frail, and their movements were hardly graceful. But Sarah's training also told her it would only be a matter of time before aliens started showing up with guns instead of batons, which meant they had to find better weapons and gear soon.

They found themselves standing in what looked like some kind of control room. "I don't suppose you have a plan, Sentinel?"

Sarah shook her head. "I'm making this up as I go along..."

"LOOK OUT!" Adams shrieked.

Sarah spun around and spotted an alien hiding behind a white container. She raised her baton and was ready to strike, but instead of attacking her the alien covered it's head with it's hands and shrieked. For some reason, Sarah hesitated and studied the terrified creature. It seemed to be shorter then the other aliens they had seen and was wearing a red jump suit instead of white.

"What are you waiting for?" Adams snapped. "Kill it!"

The alien waved his hands and began making a series of high pitched clicking sounds; as if it was pleading with them. Sarah continued to watch him, and the alien slowly stood up and began pointing to the container it was hiding behind.

"I think...it wants to show us something." Sarah said.

The alien began nodding it's head, as if it understood them. He slowly reached for the top of the container, and Sarah tightened the grip on her baton. The alien pushed a button, and the container slowly opened. The alien backed away, and both Sarah and Adams cautiously approached. When Sarah looked down inside, her mouth fell open. "It's...it's my gear!"

Sarah reached inside and pulled out her armor's chest plate. The alien began making more sounds, and motioned for Adams to come over to another container. As before, the creature pushed the button to open it, and once he'd stepped away, Adams looked inside. "Mine's here too!" She said as she removed her black riot helmet.

Sarah stared at the alien, who was standing still in the corner, and she carefully nodded. "Thank...you."

The alien responded with a slight bow.

Adams still regarded the alien with suspicion. "Why would it help us?"

"I'm not sure. He's not armed, and he's dressed differently than the others we've seen. Maybe he's a prisoner like us."

As she continued to stare at the alien, Adams could swear it could understand them. "Do you think we can trust it?"

Sarah shook her head. "I'm not sure...but I think he might be our best shot of getting out of here - and finding Marcus."

Adams began removing the rest of her armor. "Well regardless, I'm tired of running around this place in just my drawers."

"I couldn't agree more." Sarah said, and she began to don her power armor. She turned and realized that the alien was still staring at her, and she made a motion with her finger. "Turn around."

The alien responded with a squeak, and quickly turned around. As she continued to get dressed, Sarah swore that the alien had tried to peek over it's shoulder, and she shook her head. "This day's getting weirder and weirder."

Marcus, Somah and Sally had made it halfway through the steam works when an armed patrol of six aliens forced them to duck inside a small room. Even though he had his gear back, Marcus decided that stealth would be a better tactic to get to the engine room. "We'll wait for them to pass, then head out."

"Okay." Sally whispered.

Marcus knelled down beside the girl. "Sally, did you happen to see a woman that was brought here with me? She was dressed like me and has blonde hair."

Sally shook her head. "No...I don't know where she was taken. Is she your girlfriend?"

Marcus chuckled. "You could call her that."

"Damn!" Somah whispered. "Get'n it on with the bosses daughter! Man, you do live dangerously."

Marcus grinned. "So is your family here with you, Sally?"

Sally stared down at the ground. "I don't...have a family anymore."

Marcus' heart sank for the little girl, and he placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Sally shrugged. "It's okay. My parents were killed when all those bombs fell. After that it was just me and my older sister for a while. Then we were both taken here. I don't know what happened to her. That's why I kept escaping: to try and find her...but after a while I just gave up."

As Marcus listened to the girl's tragic story, he was overcome with a feeling of dread. What if no matter how long he looked for her, in the end he would never find Sarah. This ship had to be massive if after being on it for two-hundred years, Sally had yet to see all of it. An even worse thought entered his mind: what if she was already dead, and his searching was futile...

No. No matter how long it took, he was going to find her. If he had to kill every single alien on board, and rip out every nut and bolt on this ship, he was going to find her! "Let me see if the coast is clear." Marcus opened up the door, and raised the PIPBOY to his mouth. "Are you detecting anything, Moira?"

"There's no one in the hallway." the avatar whispered. "You're clear."

Marcus waved the other two on.

"Neat O'!" Sally said. "Is that a talking computer?"

Somah rolled her eyes and gave the girl a slight nudge. "Come on, move!"

The trio ran down the hall, and made for the steam works exit.

"Damn, why is it so cold in here?" Adams complained as she and Sarah followed their alien companion into another part of the ship. Sarah also noticed the sudden drop in temperature, but her attention soon fell on two large cylinders in the middle of the room. Sarah slowly approached them...and gasped at what she saw. "Oh my God!"

Adams stepped up to Sarah's right, and she too was shocked at the sight. "Are those...people?"

In deed they were people. The right cylinder contained a blonde haired woman, who looked to be in her late teens or early twenties. Inside the other cylinder was a blonde haired man wearing what Sarah recognized from old movies as a twenty-first century space suit. "They look like they're...frozen, but...alive"

Adams pointed to the man. "Is he wearing a...space suit? That's impossible! The space program was destroyed when the bombs fell. How long have they been here?"

Sarah's jaw hardened. "Too long." She turned to the alien. "Can we get them out of there?"

The alien nodded and made his way over to a large control panel. He began to push a serious of buttons, and soon a humming sound could be heard from the cylinders. Sarah and Adams took a step back, and the containers opened with a hiss. Once the fog had cleared, the two captives began to stir awake. Sarah rushed over and caught the astronaut before he collapsed, and Adams did the same for the woman.

"It's okay, it's okay." Adams said as she held the woman up.

The young woman held on to her for dear life. "W-where am I?"

Adams snorted. "You wouldn't believe me if I told ya."

Sarah noticed the American flag patch on the astronaut's sleeve, as well as the eagle pins on his shoulders. 'Probably military', she thought. "Take it easy, sir. You'll be alright."

The man raised his head. "Who...who are you? Are you...are you Americans?" The look in his eyes was a mixture of pleading and hope. "Has the government been restored? Is that why you're here?"

"Hold on, sir." Sarah said. "Let's take it slow. What was the last thing you remember?"

The astronaut thought for a moment. "I was...I was taken from the United Nations Outpost on Mars. It was...March of 2078."

Sarah's eyes went wide. '2078!'

"Wait." It was the female captive. "Did you...did you say 2078? That's not possible! It's 2077! My sister and I were..." The woman tried to push past Adams. "Sally! Where's Sally? Where's my sister?!"

Adams held onto the frantic woman. "Hold on! You need to calm down, okay! We haven't seen anyone else. Just you and...space boy over here."

"But I have to find her! She's only twelve years old; she needs me!"

"We will, I promise! You need to calm down first."

Reluctantly, the frantic woman stop struggling and began to calm down. "I just...I can't believe this is happening! First the bombs drop and now...this!"

The astronaut stared into Sarah's eyes and braced himself. "How long?"

Sarah hesitated before answering. "The current year is 2277. You've been here for almost two-hundred years, sir. I'm sorry."

The room became so silent you could hear a pin drop, as the full weight of Sarah's words sunk in. "No!" the woman gasped. "That's...that's not possible!"

A bitter chuckle escaped from the astronaut. "Our scientist always believed it was...but I never thought..." he couldn't finish the sentence.

Sarah decided to quickly change the subject. "What's your name, sir?"

"Colonel Hartigan, United States Air Force. I was part of a multi-national effort to study, Terra-form and eventually colonize Mars. Myself and a dozen others were the advanced team, sent to establish and maintain our first permanent outpost on the planet. We were a mix crew of Americans, British, French, Japanese, Israeli and Palestinian."

Sarah's mouth dropped open. "You're from the Lost Martian Colony. My father and the Scribes told us about you."

Hardigan snorted. "Is that what people call us? The last transmission we received from Earth was that the Pentagon had set DefCon 2. After that...nothing. Then we saw..." his voice began to crack. "...we saw satellite images of the nuclear strikes. It was horrible."

"I know." the woman piped up. "I was there. My parents were killed and Sally and I we..."

The woman couldn't continue, and Hardigan turned back to Sarah. "But you're here, which means humanity managed to survive. Is the American government back up and running?"

Sarah didn't have the heart to tell him, but she had no choice. "I'm sorry Colonel but...America doesn't exist anymore. There are a few settlements scattered throughout the Wasteland but...the world you both knew is gone."

It felt as though the air had been taken out of the room, and Hardigan hung his head as the last ounce of hope left him. "I'm sorry I just...I'd hoped that..."

Sarah placed her hand on his arm. "You don't have to be sorry, Colonel. I'm Sarah Lyons of the Brotherhood, and this is Corporal Adams of Rivet City."

Hardigan stared at the two women and gave a weak nod. 'Brotherhood? Rivet City? I have a lot to learn'.

"My name is Mary." the woman meekly said. Their alien companion decided to make his presence known, and when he appeared behind Adams, Mary screamed. "LOOK OUT! IT'S ONE OF THEM!"

Hardigan was about to rush the alien, but Sarah stepped between them. "NO! NO! It's okay, he's with us!"

Hardigan gritted his teeth and raised his fist, ready to strike. "Are you crazy!"

"It's true!" Sarah insisted. "He helped us to escape, and he got the two of you out of there. I think he's a prisoner like us."

Hardigan stared at the creature, who was cowering behind Adams. He slowly lowered his fist. "I'm not leaving here without the rest of my people."

Mary glanced at the alien again, who waved at her. "And I'm...not leaving here without my sister."

"Good." Sarah said. "Because I'm not leaving here without Marcus."

The engineering core of the alien space craft was unlike anything that Marcus had ever seen. He stood on the catwalk staring in awe as the massive core, which went through three decks, slowly rotated. Marcus guessed this engine could probably power the entire Capital. Hell, it could probably power the entire east coast.

"Okay," Somah said to Sally, "we're here. So what now?"

"The telaporter is over here. Come on, I'll show you."

They followed the little girl around to the opposite side of the core and entered a side room. Sally approached a large metal circle on the floor and gasped. "Oh no! They shut it down! They must be really upset with you."

"Is there any other way to get to the bridge?" Marcus asked.

"Well...the only other way I know is to go outside, but you'd need a suit for that."

Marcus looked over at Somah, who shrugged. "Don't look at me." she said.

"Marcus!" It was Moira. "Hostiles incoming!"

The Lone Wanderer looked up just in time to see a blue flash of light, and he ducked down just as a laser beam flew over his head. Once again he pushed Sally against the wall, and both he and Somah took cover on either side of door. Marcus could see five aliens wearing black tactical-style jumpsuits, with a large helmet that he could only compare to a fishbowl on their heads. They were armed with rifles that fired the same strange blue beams as the pistols he and Somah had confiscated.

"Uh, oh!" Sally yelled over the laser fire. "These guys are their security force. They're pretty tough."

Marcus readied his guass rifle. "So am I." he growled, and he activated his VATS and opened fire. He scored a direct hit on the first alien, knocking him to the ground. Marcus could not contain his grin as he began reloading his rifle.

"Ahh, kid!" Somah said with strain in her voice.

Marcus looked and to his shock, the alien he had just shot with the guass rifle slowly began to get back up. Somah opened fire with her tri-beam, scoring several hits on another alien. The creature staggered for a moment, but remained standing.

"They appear to have some kind of shield around them." Moira said.

Marcus sighed and rolled his eyes. 'Of course they do!' "Any suggestions?"

The avatar thought for a moment. "Plasma grenades might weaken their shields enough to punch through them."

The aliens were pressing their attack, and had made it around the engine core and were approaching the room. Marcus removed one of his plasma grenades and looked to Somah. "I'll throw this, then you light'em up!"

The merc nodded. "Okay kid, go for it."

Marcus tossed the grenade, and it rolled to the feet of the first two aliens. The explosion knocked the creatures to the ground, and their shrieks of pain told Marcus that their shields had collapsed. "Now!" he yelled.

Somah opened fire on the wounded aliens and cheered as both were turned to ash. "Yeah! That's what I'm talk'n about..."

A blue laser beam struck Somah in her left side. The merc let out a scream as she fell to the ground, and the three remaining aliens pressed their attack. Marcus tried to get a bead on them, but the laser fire was too intense. "Is there another way out of this room?"

Sally shook her head. "That's the only way out!"

Marcus cursed as he pressed his back against the wall. He stared down at the wounded Somah, who was holding her side and groaning in pain. They were trapped, with no where to run, and surrender was not an option. Taking a deep breath and gritting his teeth, Marcus secured his guass rifle and drew the captured alien pistol. He took aim, activated his VATS, and locked in three shots on the first alien. The first two blue beams slammed into the creature's shields, but the third went through and crippled it's right arm. Marcus was able to duck back behind cover before the other two aliens could bombard him with lasers. He released the breath he was holding, and he could feel the sweat running down his back. He didn't know how much longer his luck was going to hold.

Two loud explosions (that resembled frag grenades), outside the room got Marcus' attention, and when he peeked around the corner his mouth dropped open at what he saw. Two women, one wearing Rivet City security armor and armed with an assault rifle, and another wearing a very familiar set of winterized power armor and wielding a plasma pistol, stormed the engine room from the opposite side. Both women opened fire on the stunned aliens. Their shields held up for a few seconds under the bombardment, but they had been too weakened by the grenades and both creatures were shot to death. The last alien that Marcus had wounded tried to raise a pistol, but the Lone Wanderer put him down with two blast from his alien weapon.

Silence now filled the once chaotic engine room. Both Sarah and Marcus walked towards each other until they met by the engine core. Sarah had a smug look on her face. "Looks like I saved your ass again."

Marcus looked over the carnage, then presented his own smug grin. "I had it under control."

Sarah snorted. "Of course you did."

The two lovers embraced and shared a passionate kiss as a wave of relief washed over them.

"Eww, gross!" Sally whined.

"I'm with you kid." Somah groaned as she slowly made her way over to them; her hand clutching her wounded side. "Hey kid, if you're done making out with your girlfriend, do you think you can give me a hand so I don't bleed to death!"

Marcus and Sarah both began to blush, and they reluctantly separated.

The rest of Sarah's companions made their way over to the engine core, but before they could make introductions, Mary pushed her way past the Colonel. "Sally? SALLY!"

"MARY!" the little girl shrieked, and she ran into her big sister's arms. Everyone stood a respectable distance back as the two sisters were reunited. Sally sobbed and held onto her sister tight; terrified that if she let go she would loose her again. Tears were streaming down Mary's face. "Oh my God, let me look at you! Are you alright?"

Sally could barely speak. "I...I {sniffle}...tried to {sniffle} find you...for so long."

There were more tears as Mary hugged her close. "I'm sorry. I'm here now and I'm never leaving you."

Sarah decided to introduce the rest of her companions. "Marcus this is Corporal Elizabeth Adams, and this is Colonel Hardigan...of NASA."

Marcus' eyes went wide as he shook the astronaut's hand. "Colonel Hardigan. You...you lead the mission to Mars."

The Colonel nodded.

"I learned about you in history class. We were told that after the bombs fell you and the colony were cut-off from resupply, and more then likely all starved to death."

"Well we were down to our last week of rations when these guys showed up. We actually thought we were being rescued. Hu. Man was I wrong."

"Hello!" Somah yelled. "Still bleeding!"

Marcus quickly made his way over to her, and helped her to sit down. Luckily he still had his first aid kit, and he began to treat her wound. "Sarah this is Somah. Somah, Sarah Lyons."

The two women said hello, and Sarah took a deep breath as she introduced their...other companion. "Now don't freak out but...there's someone else I'd like you to meet." Sarah moved to the side, and their alien companion was standing a few feet away.

"Oh hell no!" Somah yelled as she reached for her gun.

"NO WAIT!" Sally screamed as she ran towards the frightened alien. "Don't hurt him! He's my friend!" The child stood in front of the creature, and the adults were stunned.

"Your friend?" Mary asked. "Sally what are you talking about?"

"He helped me a few times when I was out and exploring the ship. He's one of the engineers, and the other aliens treat them like slaves."

The alien began to speak in it's strange language.

"It's okay." Sally told the creature. "These people are nice; they won't hurt you."

The alien spoke again, and appeared to thank the girl.

"Wait," Adams began, "you understand that gibberish?"

Sally nodded. "I sure do. Bob injected me with these things called translator nanites. Basically they're like tiny little robotic bugs that can make me understand any language. Bob has them too, that's how he's able to understand us."

Marcus put his hand up. "Wait a minute. Bob!?"

"Yeah, I can't pronounce his real name, so I just started calling him Bob. He seems to like it. He could inject all of you with the nanites, that way you can talk to him, too."

"Uh, uh, no way!" Somah spat. "These guys have injected me with enough crap!"

Everyone else looked at each other warily. Finally Marcus cleared his throat. "Well first things first, we have to secure this area." He picked up one of the alien rifles and handed it to Sarah. "It packs a hell of a punch, and it seems to be the best weapon to use against their shields."

Sarah looked the weapon over, and the others began picking up the rest of the alien rifles and pistols. Marcus knelled down and examined one of the dead creatures. "Those shields give them a hell of an advantage. Moira, is there anyway we could incorporate these shields into our power armor?"

Moira crossed her arms. "Marcus! How long have we been together?"

Taking that as a yes, Marcus and Sarah carried two of the alien bodies into the room he and Somah were held up in. Hardigan, Mary and Adams set up a few metal containers into a make-shift barricade on the catewalk outside the room, and once they were secure, Marcus walked over to the little girl and knelled down in front of her. "Moira, is there a way you can analyze her blood?"

"I should be able to use the PIPBOY's water scanner for that. I just need a drop or two."

Marcus looked to the little girl. "Sally, I just need a drop of your blood, okay. I promise you it won't hurt."

Sally smiled. "That's okay. Needles don't scare me anymore."

A faint gasp escaped from Mary, and the woman had to fight back more tears.

A couple of minutes later, Moira had finished her analysis. "Wow...this is amazing! The nanites are at home in her blood stream just like white blood cells!"

"Are they safe?" Marcus asked.

"Well it's hard to tell without more test, but otherwise she seems like a normal, healthy, two-hundred year old little girl."

Marcus rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the assurance." He turned to the alien. "Okay...Bob. Go ahead."

Sarah grabbed his arm. "Marcus wait! Are...are you sure?"

"I think...Bob...maybe our best chance of getting off this ship. So in order for this to work we have to understand him." He gently placed his hand on her's. "I'll be alright."

Sarah hesitated for a moment, but reluctantly let him go. Marcus turned to the alien, took a deep breath and held out his bare left arm. "Okay. Do it."

The alien pressed the injector up to his arm and pulled the trigger. Marcus felt the pinch of the needle, followed by a strange tingling sensation going up his arm. A few moments later his who body tingled, and he cringed from the strange sensation.

"Don't worry," Sally reassured him, "that tingling will go away in a second."

True to her word, the sensation was over almost as soon as it had begun. Then, the alien spoke.

"Can you understand me, Mr. Lincoln?"

Marcus was shocked. "Holy shit! It works!" He turned to the others. "It works, I understand him!"

Sarah let out the breath she was holding. "How do you feel?"

Marcus looked his body over and smiled. "I feel fine!"

Hardigan decided to give it another test. "Tell me if you understand this...La France est un pays merveilleux."

Marcus smiled. "Well sir I've never been to France, but I heard it was a beautiful country."

Hardigan's mouth dropped open. "Unbelievable. Ha! I guess all of those bilingual classes I took were a waste of time." The Colonel began to roll up his right sleeve, and received the next injection from Bob. Soon everyone had been injected by the nanites (though Somah took some time to be convinced).

Sarah was the first to ask the alien the obvious question. "Alright, so who are you people? Where are you from?"

"There is no word in any of your languages that translates to the name of our home world. The closest I have been able to find is the word: Zeta."

Adams let out a grunt. "Sounds like something out of a bad science fiction movie."

"Why are you helping us?" Marcus asked.

"I am a member of the worker class, and as Sally stated, we are slaves of the Imperium. For thousands of years my people were a peaceful race of explorers. We traveled the stars and discovered new worlds and studied new civilizations. Our goals were pure, and our rules simple: do no harm, and do not interfere with primitive societies. But then, our world began to run out of natural resources. Most of us wanted to harvest what we needed peacefully, but the military class was impatient, and wanted us to take what we needed by force."

"Let me guess." Adams said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "The military staged a coup."

"Correct. After a brief, but bloody civil war, the military class took over the government and established the Imperium. Now we conquer peaceful worlds and strip them of all of their resources." For the first time, the alien's voice took on a sad tone. "I have seen countless species exterminated at the hands of our military. We first discovered your planet in your calendar year of 1697."

A series of gasps and whistles filled the room. "1697!" Hardigan said. "Your people have been studying us for almost six-hundred years?"

"Yes."

Somah, who was sitting against the wall, winced in pain as she readjusted herself. "Okay, Bob, why didn't your people invade us back when we had barely discovered gun powder? You would've beaten us in a day."

"While our technology is vastly superior, your world contains more bacteria and viruses then any other we have come across. We are surprised that your species was able to evolve in such an environment."

"Well we're tougher then we look." Sarah stated.

Marcus was beginning to understand. "I get it. If you set foot on our planet without protective suits, you'd die from disease."

"Yes. The moment we breathed your air, or drank your water, we would be dead in a matter of days. For centuries our scientist kidnapped members of your species in an attempt to develop vaccines to make us immune to your diseases. But they were unsuccessful. Then, about a century ago, our scientist began to try...another way."

The way Bob said the last sentence sent a chill up everyone's spine. "What...other way?" Mary asked.

Bob stared at the floor. "They began splicing human and zetain DNA in an attempt to make a hybrid soldier. These soldiers would be zetain, but would have the immunitys and physical strength of your species."

A grim silence greeted the alien's statement, and he could see the revulsion on their faces.

Hardigan looked like he was going to be sick. "That's...an abomination!"

"Yes...they are. Many of them die horribly. Others are mindless and crazed. But they are getting close to perfecting the process." He pointed to Marcus and Sarah. "And they believe your DNA could be the key."

Both of their jaws dropped open. "Us? What's so special about us?" Sarah asked.

"The analysis of your blood revealed your...unique healing abilities. Our scientist believe those traits will bring us one step closer to creating their hybrid soldiers. It is good you escaped when you did - you were both scheduled to be dissected tomorrow."

Somah chuckled. "Well...aren't you two special."

Marcus ignored her. "If your people succeed in creating these hybrids, what will happen?"

Bob stared the human dead in the eye. "Then millions of them will descend on your world...and your species will be exterminated."