Survivors

Twenty minutes later they had told Bretnel the whole story while Jacob, still unconscious, lay locked in one of the storerooms. Bretnel, to give him his due, had listened to the whole of their story. He had seemed to react more to the way they had told the story than the actual content. He had been patient but exasperated by Joe’s ineptitude, touched by Holly’s humanity and deeply concerned by Luke’s apparent malicious enjoyment of the predicament they were now in. When they had all finished he sat for a few moments in absolute silence and absolute stillness. In fact he was so still they began to think he was having one of his turns. When he suddenly did speak it was so unexpected that all three of them jumped.

“I can’t begin to say how disappointed I am” he said.

Before any of them, and particularly Luke could react he went on. “But that really doesn’t matter right now. History is full of disastrous occasions where very intelligent people have made misguided and erroneous choices that have precipitated their downfall and in very many occasions..”

“For god’s sake!” interrupted Luke “Never mind all that! What the hell are we going to do now!?”

Bretnel paused and looked at him.

“During our acquaintance Master Luke” he replied calmly. “I have noticed a marked increase in your levels of hostility to the world in general and to myself particularly. At some point in the future I would like to discuss this phenomenon with you, but I am fully cognisant that this is not the occasion for such a discourse”

Luke looked like he was about to yell again but Bretnel raised his hand and stopped him.

“But to the matter in hand. The first thing I suggest is that I carry out a scan of our guest to see if he is wearing or has been implanted with any kind of transmitter. The answer to this will of course inform the decisions we take next”.

“Transmitter!?” asked Joe disbelievingly “What like a radio or something. Why would he have been implanted with a transmitter?!”

“To inform the Aliens of his current position” replied Bretnel completely un-phased.

“But… but” stammered Joe

“He may not have an implant” said Bretnel “But if he has, we will deal with that eventuality when it arises. The poor man may not even know he’s been implanted. His ignorance would make him a much more effective operative”

“Operative!?” shouted Joe becoming slightly hysterical.

“Master Joe, this is going to take a lot longer to discuss if you keep repeating random single words I utter at high decibel levels”

“But you think he was working for the Aliens?” asked Holly

“Naturally” replied Bretnel “A man like this would never be able to survive on his own in the countryside for a prolonged period of time. Certainly for not as long as you have been residing here at the base”.

“That’s what I said” said Holly.

“Oh shut-up” snarled Luke.

“Arguing about this will not help us now” said Bretnel “However, from your story it would appear that the people in the town were more prudently cautious than you have been. I only hope that your actions have not put them in any danger”.

“What do you mean?” asked Holly in horror.

“Well” replied Bretnel “My assumption is that the Aliens track the man and then possibly pick him up from time to time to take him to a new location. When he has been inserted into an area they would carefully monitor his movements and then record when his signal remains constant in or around one specific location for an extended period of time. They will then deduce he has found a settlement and has ingratiated himself with the local free populace. After a while they will manufacture a rendezvous and tell Mr Marley to vacate the area somewhat precipitously giving the Aliens the opportunity to move in and capture all the poor souls they find”. He paused for a moment and took in the look of complete shock on the three faces watching him. “But” he said with false forced optimism “I’m sure the people in the town will be fine, as he wasn’t with them long enough to establish their base as a definite location, so his moving on will not have been seen as suspicious in the slightest”.

“That’s all very well” said Luke “But he’s here now! Won’t that just bring the Aliens running straight for us?”

“Technically yes”

“What the hell do you mean technically!!”

“Well” said Bretnel “The base has a number of dampening devices to block unwanted transmissions from within, which should mask any signal he is emanating now”

“So we’re safe then?” asked Joe.

“Technically yes”

“Stop with the technically and tell us what the hell it is you’re trying to say”

“Well, even though the signal may be masked now, the last recorded signals the Aliens will have received will come right from our front door. Not only that but the signals shortly before the loss of contact will be odd”.

“What do you mean odd?!” demanded Luke.

“Well for example, sudden changes in height, sudden accelerations, the sheer speed at which the target was moving will no doubt cause have caused suspicion. They will never have received any data that even comes close to that they have been sent today. I doubt if Mr Marley has ever jumped out of a fourth story building before, and he will certainly have never flown”.

“Oh bloody hell!” groaned Joe.

“If I were a Alien I’d investigate these signals” said Bretnel matter of factly. “The gentlemen’s state of health, whilst not ideal, is not an immediate cause for concern. A bad concussion and a good degree of bruising would be my initial diagnosis”

“I don’t give a monkeys about his state of health” yelled Luke “Let’s just find out if he’s got a bloody transmitter on him or not and if it’s in him we cut it out!!”

Bretnel looked taken aback by Luke’s anger and then deeply disappointed.

“Master Luke I know you have a lot of anger, a lot of resentment and a strong desire for vengeance but I truly believed you had a real flame of humanity inside you”

“Well you were wrong” stormed Luke.

“Perhaps I was” sighed Bretnel “Perhaps I was”.