Escape 1: Escape From Aliens Read Free Page B

cell. Maybe this Diligent person believed the containment module was escape proof. He didn’t. There had to be a door somewhere, on some wall surface, otherwise the Aliens could never have put him into the cell. And he had a few ideas for prompting the arthropod in charge to come to his cell, open the door and look inside. He grinned. Survival in air, water and on the land was second nature to him. And it was time for him to apply his Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape training. He’d done great at SERE during harsh climates training near Kodiak, Alaska. And he could hold his breath underwater for four minutes. Plus he could jump high enough to touch the cell’s ceiling. He turned and reentered his tent. Time to find some food. Time to build up his energy. And time to think long and hard on what threat would motivate the Alien insect in charge of his cell to violate the Rules of Captivity.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER TWO
     
    Bill sat in his tent, turned his backpack upside down and scanned the contents that fell out. There were six packets of dried meat and pasta meals, three packets of dried fruit, a packet of cinnamon gum, a plastic bottle of orange juice, a bottle of water purification tabs, three candy bars, five ziplock baggies filled with trail mix nuts, his left ear hearing aid, a pencil-shaped flashlight, and a plastic container of needles and sewing thread. Which had been opened to remove the tiny pair of scissors in it. Also missing were his Swiss Army pocket knife, his iPhone, and two extra clips of .45 hollow-point ammo. Reaching into the mess he sorted stuff. To one side he put two changes of underwear, a green t-shirt with the SEAL trident printed on it, his blue jeans, his brown leather belt with a SEAL belt buckle, four sets of cotton socks, his blue parka jacket, a red First Aid kit that lacked its scissors, a one quart canteen, his billfold with two twenties, his driver’s license, his Navy ID and the color photo of his sister Joan. Whom he would never again see, if this Diligent person really did plan an interstellar trip to another world. She was the only family he had left, after his parents died three years ago in a Louisiana bayou outing that left them and their guide drowned in a swamp. He’d claimed their bodies, which bore the teeth marks of local alligators. His platoon buddies had been there for him during the funeral. Now, no one was with him. No SEAL buddies. Just him, his belongings and the cell.
    “The only easy day was yesterday,” he murmured to himself, recalling plenty of other SEAL mottos. Including a few not intended for mixed company. Looking down at the sewing kit, he realized it held six steel needles. Apparently needles were not considered a dangerous device. Checking the First Aid kit he found only bandaids, pads, wound tape, a simple hypodermic injector and packets of antibiotic cream. He looked up and out the sheer mesh entry of the tent, fixing on the fake lake that was camouflage for a wall that lay just ten feet from him. That side of the cell did not contain the food, water and waste outlets mentioned by the Alien. Perhaps the entry door lay in that wall. He had not felt any door seam or edge when he’d walked forward. Then again, he had not really tried to see by feeling. Time enough to do it later this morning. Which thought made him look at his left wrist. The digital watch he always wore was there, its flex band holding it tight against his sweaty wrist. He always sweated when under pressure. He realized his options were limited. Either come up with an improvised explosive device that could blow a hole in a wall, or mess up something inside the module that required a visit by a crewmember. His heart thudded as he realized he also had a third option. Unzipping the entry mesh, he stepped out, still naked, and looked up, just above the surface of the lake, to the spot