[William Robbins]

All the lights on the control panel are blinking red. The needles on all the meters also forecast nothing, but bad news.

Katar reaches over and flips a switch to turn off the panel. He doesn't need the readings to let him know how much damage his ship has sustained in the last fight.

The only thing he leaves on is the monitor showing an image of his home planet. Sighing, he eventually turns off the monitor. There is no sense in keeping he image of his planet alive when he already knows it has been vaporized in the war and left him nothing to go home too.

Too bad none of his family or superiors are alive to appreciate his victory. But outlasting an enemy is hardly much of a victory when you have nothing to go home to.

So now he sails off into deep space. In the ensuing explosion during his clash with those three enemy ships it left enough of an impression on their sensors that he knows no one will assume he survived.

He reaches down and puts his hand back over his abdomen where the wound is bleeding profusely. Soon his body will shut down completely from the loss of blood. At least his enemy died first.

Of course if he hadn't been so engrained with the concept of following his leader's commands he might have done the sane thing and avoided any risk of danger. That wasn't the way on his planet. Warriors had to be warriors regardless of the risk. Obedience to the cause and one's calling was the cornerstone of his edifice of thought and he had no way of avoiding it even when facing the possibility of death.

Part of him knows he has only one chance for survival. He can plug in the commands to order the computer to repair the damage to his ship. But with his body there is no such option. His only hope is to use a desperate procedure where he transfers his consciousness into the ship's computer.

Then after he plots a deep space course, he will let his mind "sleep" during the journey while his body dies. At some point when the craft lands on some planet hopefully the computer will be able to scan out some life form in which to transfer his consciousness.

The pain from his wound nearly blinds him. Using all his remaining strength he plugs in the commands to set the ship on automatic and the parameters needed to find a habitable planet. Then he slips on the headset to transfer his mind into the computer. Pressing the button his body immediately goes limp. On the computer's panel a small green light flashes to signify Katar's mind is now stored in its memory banks.

In the vastness of dark space Katar's ship obediently sails and follows the computers instructions. Eventually it is repaired enough to restore its engine to beyond the speed of light. It soars along in the emptiness as the computer continues to search as program for a habitable planet somewhere among the galaxies.

Time slips along and the computer diligently performs its task. It searches for a planet, but beyond certain qualities necessary to promote life it has no other criteria in terms of any life forms that might exists.

Finally it locates a choice. A logical one based on what its program required. It sets a course for the third planet from this small star. Shifting the engines into hyper drive, it will take two years to finally reach the planet. Time enough for the last of the repairs to be finished so the ship will survive the impact of landing.

Streaking the through the sky the ship begins to deteriorate as it descends. Soon the computer's senses flash with warnings. Even a computer can be fallible. It hadn't properly calculated the atmosphere. Before it can adjust the ship is falling out of control. By the time it hits the surface there is a tremendous explosion and a huge cloud of smoke fills the sky.

On the ground there is only the shatter remnants of the ship, but fortunately the computer's small container survived. It managed to bounce across the ground and eventually fell into a ravine, when it shuts down into sleep mode to conserve energy.

Time - centuries pass and the dust and plants eventually cover over any signs of the crash. As for the computer, it lies on layers of dirt and weeds and is undetectable by any of the wild animals that stalk this territory.

Bill Saks stabs at the ravine earth with his shovel. Ajax construction got the contract to transform one of the last remained undeveloped lots in the city into a building for offices. Why it had managed to escape developed up till now is hard to say. All Bill knows is that he as usual gets the grunt job of making sure the place is ready for grading.

His shovel hits something metal. Probably some old can or something that somebody tossed in the ravine because it was not longer of value. Too many people had used the place as a dump over the years.

He picked up the small rusty looking metal box. It doesn't look like anything he has ever seen before, but it doesn't look like he has any value either. So he tosses it into a nearby trash can. Later he will dump the can into a dumpster at the top of the hill that resides next to alley behind this group of buildings.

That night Slim Orker, a local transient is moseying down the alley and poking through the dumpster looking for cans he can recycle. Life has hardly been kind to Slim. He had never been a mover and shaker in society, but after the accident that kill his wife and two kids life just seem to go down hill. Now he survives on the street by any means he cans and is grateful for the times he can get a night's stay in one of the rescue missions.

While digging through the trash he comes across the rusty metal box. It doesn't look like anything valuable, but maybe he can sell it at the recyclers for a couple of bucks. Then he notices a small button on the top. Curiosity compels him to press the button.

There is a humming sound and then he feels a bolt of electricity go through his body that literally knocks him on his back and renders him unconscious. He drops the metal box and it slowly begins to glow and amber color before it disappears completely, having managed to finish its prime directive to transfer Katar's consciousness into a life form.

When Slim opens his eyes, it is Katar who sees the world. It is a strange experience for him. Because he suddenly has two recollections. There are those from his past that race through his consciousness like a blur. Then there is an awareness of something else. A different being, named - Slim?

Eventually Katar is able to sort through the confusion and become aware of the truth. He slowly rises from the ground, grateful to be awake again, but still dazed over his transformation. Plus he is curious about where he has ended up and whether this Slim being is some one of importance on this planet.

Slowly he allows his conscious to delve into the memories of this being's past. It only takes a couple of minutes before he understands several things. First he is on the planet Earth. Second he is in the body of a man who is not one of its leaders and thirdly that it is going to take some effort for him to adjust to his new life. But time is one thing he does have.

Katar wanders down the alleyway and towards the main street. He feels strange and then his senses realize that this Slim was apparently under the influence of some stimulus when he managed to activate the computer. No problem Katar can sense the affect will eventually wear off.

Before he can reach the end of the alleyway a car turns into it and manages to hit him, knocking him backwards and to the ground. A man gets out of the car and rushes down to where he is laying. "Oh my god are you okay?" The man says.

It is odd to Katar to be able to understand the man who is speaking an unknown language, but thanks to the memories from his host's mind it is as if he has spoken it himself fluently. As the man helps him to his feet, Katar says, "Yes, I believe I'm okay. I do thing there is any damage that I can tell."

"Whew! I'm sure glad to hear that. Look, I don't mean to pry hear, but I got a feeling you don't have a job right?"

"Right."

"Well maybe I can make this up to you by helping get you a job. I work for this courier company and they are always hiring. My name is Steve by the way."

"Mine is Kata - um Slim Oker. And I would appreciate the job."

"Great. And I only got one more stop before heading back to base. So hop in and when we get back I'll introduce you to the dispatcher. Ah, I hate to mention this, but I hope you are okay with trying to do a good job. We pride ourselves on being the best and that means all our employees have to be obedient to doing everything right."

"I understand obedience," Katar comments, with Steve having said the magic word that has always been the foundation of the alien's nature.

A few days later Katar is driving down the road on his newly assigned route. He impressed his dispatcher with his loyalty and the quick ability he had to grasp the priority he appreciated for making sure they always made their deliveries on time.

True, as Slim Oker he had a passed that included a less than impressive work history. But that wasn't unusual for the people who came in to apply for work at the courier company.

Perhaps what impressed or scared the dispatcher and other employees the most about Katar was that at times he seemed to make comments and act as if underneath that slim and docile exterior there was some formidable. But so far no one had dared to delve too hard into Katar's identity to find out for sure.

Katar checks the address on the bag sitting next to him in the seat. He's been there before even though he's only been doing this job for a short time.

Part of him doesn't like the idea of stopping at this location. The people never have the bag that he is suppose to pick up ready. So he ends up waiting and that risks making him late to his other stops.

The dispatcher had grilled into him yesterday the importance of being on time. And being obedient to the powers in charge was something Katar always understood.

He goes through the door of the reality office and goes up to the desk where he normally drops the bag. Then he stands there while the woman at the desk finishes her conversation.

When she is done he hands her the bag and waits for the one he is suppose to pick up. She looks up at him and says, "I'll need about fifteen minutes before the bag will be ready."

Katar looks at his watch. Then he calmly and obediently says, remembering his prime directive to be on time, "I need the bag now."

The woman's manager overhears the conversation and struts up and says, "Look pal you don't talk to my people that way, the bag will be ready when it is ready. You got that?"

Something from Katar's past suddenly clicks in his brain the moment he is faced with a contradiction between his need to be obedient and an impediment to that need. Inside his brain an instinctive reaction brews from his warrior days. Suddenly two rays of gold light shoot forth from his eyes and vaporize the manager and his employee.

Katar exhales heavily as one more piece of his past comes into focus. He looks over and sees the bag he is suppose to pick up on a distant table. Then he heads for the door. When it comes to obedience, he will always follow the instructions of those who are his leaders. As he reaches his car, he starts the engine and pulls out of the parking spot there are still many more deliveries to make and deadlines to keep and he will be obedient to see that both are done in any way necessary.

[Maud]

I don'y understand a keyconcept in your story, if the ship was buried under years of Earth how did the computer stay above. Also, why did he have to kill them couldn't he have just took the bag and went, and he is also in a humans body and as you probaly know we can't fire anything out of are eyes. Your style overall though is solid but I am kind of annoyed at the breaks after almost each sentence. but overall it was really good.

[William Robbins]

Originally Posted by Roland

I don'y understand a keyconcept in your story, if the ship was buried under years of Earth how did the computer stay above. Also, why did he have to kill them couldn't he have just took the bag and went, and he is also in a humans body and as you probaly know we can't fire anything out of are eyes. Your style overall though is solid but I am kind of annoyed at the breaks after almost each sentence. but overall it was really good.

Perhaps I didn't make it clear enough even though I thought I did, but the ship crashed when impact and the computer survived the impact as it fell into a ravine. The construction crew unearthed it while digging.

With the regards to his dealing with the customers, I guess you would have to have been a courier driver to appreciate that part. That was wove in based upon having to deal with some really mean spirit people.

I'm not expert on aliens, but I did take the liberty of granting this alien certain powers we as humans can't do. But I do appreciate your observations. Thanks for sharing.