I am not programmed thus.
How about just sucking them out into space?
That is one way perhaps, but a hole must be made in the spacecraft which could not be repaired easily.
Even with the nanomachines?
The hull is made of a special material built from condensed matter that takes time for the nanomachines to construct. It would take time.
How much time?
Two months, three weeks, four days . . .
Okay, I get the idea. We would be stuck in here for that time right?
Yes.
I don't like that, but keep it in mind as a last resort.
Okay.
How about just killing them with the nanomachines?
They can neutralize the nanomachines.
Damn, if I only had a gun!
Please refine that statement.
Could you make a gun for me that has more than eleven shots?
Yes.
How long would it take?
It depends on what type of gun you desire.
Give me the information of all handheld man-made guns you know how to make. A few seconds later, I had a catalog of firearms that would make the NRA jealous in my head, and, in addition, I knew everything about them.
Make me two MP5s, fully-loaded, with two extra magazines each. And teach Tatiana how to use one.
Okay.
The small machine guns appeared on the floor between us. I grabbed one and set it on three-round-burst mode and handed it to Tatiana. "I take it you know how to use this?"
"Odd, yes I do," she said.
"Tatiana, listen, we can fight them now, or let the computer kill them. But, if the computer kills them we are stuck in this room for nearly four months. We can wait it out or shoot it out. It's up to you. Which one?"
Tatiana placed the strap of the MP5 over her shoulder, causing the tank top strap to fall over her left shoulder revealing one of her boobs. "Screw waiting, Steven. Bring 'em on." She pulled the strap back up.
Okay, we will fight them.
Okay.
"They're coming. When they do, we kill every goddamned one of them. Okay?" I looked her sternly in the eyes to see if she would falter any. I wasn't sure about her. Her implant had not been out as long as mine had.
I picked up my MP5 and put it on rock 'n' roll and looked around the room, understanding that I had no idea which way they would come from.
Where will they come from?
Everywhere.
What do you mean everywhere?
They will enter doors in each wall.
Can you time it and let them through given walls at given times.
Maybe.
Can you warn Tatiana, and me, where they are coming from, before they do?
Yes, but she must put on the other headband interface.
Okay, I'll have her put it on.
Okay.
"Tatiana, they are coming now. Be ready. The computer will try to warn us but you must put this on. Just listen in your head for the computer's voice." I handed her the other headband and we stood back to back in the middle of the room, waiting. I felt like praying or something.
Give us strength. Let them in!
Okay.
The wall to my left opened up and two Grays rushed inward, moving rapidly across the small room, Tatiana fired first. Several three-round bursts and the first blue-green blood was spilled on the floor. I started rock'n almost as quickly, and the SuperAgent told us to move from the center of the floor.
The floor rippled. Two more aliens burst through it and then the wall to our right opened almost as quickly as the computer told us to watch out. We fired and fired. My mag ran dry quickly. Seven aliens lay bloody on the floor around us but more were coming.
"I'm changing, cover me." I popped the mag on the floor and had the new one in before it fell to a thud on the dead pile of aliens at our feet.
"I'm out," Tatiana warned me.
The ceiling opened up and four aliens dropped on us. I managed to kill two of them before we were overpowered, but then it was hand-to-hand.
The first two aliens that I had killed by hand earlier were not expecting my attack and were easy to kill. These last two were expecting us, and didn't seem too happy that we had killed eleven of their chums today.
Tatiana was rolling and screaming, "Get off me, you shit," and then she was screaming in Russian.
I was rolling and trying to find purchase on the little thing's body somewhere to get him off me, but the damned thing moved fast. I felt claws dig into my flesh, and I could hear Tatiana screaming in pain and terror. Then it dawned on me that I hadn't used the computer for much help.
Help!
Please refine the question.
Kill these aliens without harming us.
I cannot affect them in this room.
I rolled and tried to bear crawl with the thing on my back. It continued to claw and cut at my flesh with its three-fingered hands. I couldn't get out from under it so I forced myself up to my feet. The alien wrapped his arms around my neck and started choking me and his left hand forefinger jabbed into my face. I caught it just short of my right eye and tried to hold him off. He was amazingly strong for such a small creature. I couldn't hold him off much longer. The thing was on my back and was not going to let loose until I was a goner.
Make a sharp pointed stick protruding one foot out from the wall directly behind me.
Okay.
I just assumed it was there and forced myself backwards thrusting the alien, with all my weight, into the wall and onto the newly formed stick. The creature screeched in my ear and let go. I immediately rushed the creature that was slashing away at Tatiana. I grabbed the creature by the top of the head and pushed my left knee through its neck. It went limp as I pulled it from Tatiana. She screamed and grabbed the MP5 lying next to her with her left hand and fired it just over my right shoulder.
I shuddered and moved out of the way as Tatiana emptied the machine gun into the alien I had stuck to the wall. It was a tough one. It had pulled itself free and was coming for us.
The machine gun clicked empty and there were now thirteen aliens oozing blueish-green syrup on the floor. Tatiana and I were bleeding profusely from many wounds, our clothes tattered and sloppy red with blood. I was afraid that we wouldn't make it without medical attention. Tatiana's right arm was broken and her earlobe on the left side was gone. She was also bleeding very badly from her thigh.
My right wrist was cut and I was bleeding out and there were slashes on both our necks close to our jugulars. The little bastards knew just how to kill us.
"I think I am a goner, Steven." A tear rolled down her face and she started tunneling out on me.
"No way!" I told her. I had lost everything and everybody I had ever known. Even though I had only known Tatiana for a few hours, she was not going to die. Neither was I.
Are you there?
Yes.
Heal us.
Okay.
CHAPTER 12
We both lay there not moving but holding each other for several minutes. The bleeding had stopped and the wounds had all been healed as though they were never there. Tatiana's broken arm was mended and there was little pain for either of us. Mostly we were in shock as we surveyed the little white room filled with dead alien bodies and the blue-green syrupy blood—mixed with a lot of our own red blood splattered everywhere. It was a hell of a lot to take in.