The Incarceration Of Doctor Samuels

Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer

Doctor Samuels had been held captive aboard the vessel for several years now. The Grays treated him roughly but never seriously harmed him as they went about their strange business, making him feel as if he were some sort of unimportant pet. But they had trusted him more and more as of late, allowing him onto the bridge regularly, where he had an excellent view of the earth and moon through the wide bay window. Never had a man gazed upon such wonders! He had of course read Jules Verne and could well fantasize about such things, but to see it with one’s own eyes was an entirely different matter.

Sometimes the Grays made forays down to the earth, abducting some frightened person for scientific study, before eventually returning the poor soul home. Why he himself had been kept all this long while was still a mystery. He felt more and more a pet as time went on.

They never left the vicinity of the earth and moon. It seemed they were on a long-term mission of survey and study. Samuels had no idea of the planet from which his captors hailed. Mars or Venus would be among his first inclinations, but his instinct had him postulating that these beings hailed from a distance far greater.

They spoke in soft clicks and whispers that were still as unintelligible to the doctor as they had been the day he’d arrived. In all this time the Grays had never once made an attempt toward intelligent communication, instead herding him this way and that, making him eat the disgusting brown paste that was his only sustenance, other than the lukewarm water which was dispensed from sterile steel spouts in his sleeping quarters.

But he remained silent and subservient, watching from dark corners, observing everything they did… and learning. Which is why he did not waste a single second when opportunity suddenly arose without warning.

Two of the ones that he thought of as underlings, stepped onto the bridge and exchanged language with two that he considered officers. Whatever the issue, all four exited suddenly. He sat up unbelieving in his dark corner. He had never before been left alone on the bridge!

He knew the swiftness with which the vessel could travel. But could he fly it? He did not hesitate another moment… sprinting across the floor to the control console. He had seen the officers countless times placing their hands upon the glowing green orb and closing their eyes in concentration. He followed suit, placing his human hands upon the orb.

His entire body shuddered as the mystical visions suddenly appeared inside his head. His eyes were shut tight yet he could see the forward view out the ship’s wide bay window, and green symbols not unlike Greek letters glowed in his peripheral. A blinking green X dominated the center of his vision. He quickly found that by willing it so he could move the flashing cursor wherever he liked. He centered on the earth and leaned forward, putting his weight on the orb. To his great surprise the ship lurched forward and the planet grew large before his tightly closed eyes.

Two of the Grays came running onto the bridge as their stupid pet piloted their ship straight toward the planet without any knowledge of how to engage the collision safety override, or of how to stop at all. And as they entered the atmosphere at over 30,000 kilometers per hour, the ship liquefied into a molten blob some ten kilometers above Tunguska Russia.