Doomed by Adam Moon Read Free Book Online Page B

ten heads and said, “Where the hell did you learn to speak Martian?”
    Only then did he realize he’d used the creature’s native tongue to address it. Maybe the gray jelly bean let him do that as well as understand alien languages.
    The alien said, “Who are you? How do you know my language?”
    “The aliens that brought me here put a device in my head.”
    The furry crab creature paused for a full minute. He seemed to be trying to decide what to do.
    Then he said, “Come to me. I have much to tell you. It might just save your lives.”

The Truth
     
    When they tried to swim across the lake, the suits lifted them into the air with little unseen thrusters and they managed to float all the way across like human hover boards.
    They got to their feet shakily and were shocked when the creature ran at them at lightning speed and grabbed a protruding nub on each of their ch est-plates. He tore them off and then crushed them beneath his claw-like feet before they could defend themselves.
    He said, “I apologize if that terrified you but I must make sure they don’t know I’m here. Come with me.”
    They didn’t know who they were but they didn’t have the guts to ask.
    They followed the crab monster through a small cave entrance in the mountain. The cave went deep in, snaking this way and that. It was lit every twenty feet so they didn’t have to worry about hitting a wall or anything in the dark.
    Only now did Mike sta rt to feel some trepidation. Was this how the crab creature survived out here, by luring prey into his lair?
    The temperature cooled down as they came into a cavernous room, lit all the way around. There was a rough hewn rock bench and what looked like a rock bed. In the center of the room was a small fire. The creature slowly lowered himself down beside the fire and then looked up at them with his creepy eyes, bidding them to follow suit.
    They sat on the opposite side of the fire just in case he turned out to be a threat.
    The creature said, “My name is Coalic. Who are you?”
    “I’m Mike and this is Melanie.”
    Coalic pointed at one of the walls and said, “Do you recognize that?”
    Mike stood up and went in the direction Coalic was pointing. Standing against the wall was a mechanized suit, similar to theirs but suited to the crab creatures shape.
    He said, “Where did you get that?”
    “The aliens that brought me here gave it to me. They are the same aliens that brought you here.”
    Mike sat down again and sai d, “I don’t understand. What does that mean?”
    “I mean they tricked you just like they tricked me and my people.”
    To her credit, Melanie sat through the entire exchange even though she had no idea what they were talking about.
    Coalic said, “I bet they told you that they were saving you from a terrible catastrophe. I bet they told you that by now your planet and your species are long gone and you are clear across the universe from your star system.”
    Mike shook his head in confusion but he was intrigued. “Actually they did tell us something like that. They said our planet would be destroyed in ten years time and that they had hand picked a thousand of us to create a new colony. They also told us that while we were in cryo-sleep, we’d traveled seventy six million years.”
    “I guess they change up their stories a bit, but that sounds about right. Everything they do has a purpose though. They made you desperate by telling you you’ll never see your home again and by tricking you into believing that you’re your species’ only hope.”
    “Why would they do that?”
    Because they want you to fight for your survival. It’s a ruse to trick you. I bet your planet’s less than a month’s journey from here using their propulsion systems. I’m also pretty sure your planet is still intact. There never was a threat.”
    “I still don’t get it. Why would they do any of that to us?”
    “For entertainment. They probably told you that another race of creatures had