Codename Alpha

Chapter 10

"We might have to do a bit of property damage to get a seat, but it's a ride nonetheless." Lieutenant Kovalev motioned for Pearce and I to come a little bit forwards and see for ourselves. I wasn't really sure what I was expecting, but for some reason, it was still surprising to see the train sitting on the tracks. All of the railroad cars were taken by randomly-colored cargo containers, a few bearing what was probably graffiti.

I found that somewhat comforting. Despite being on an alien planet, there were many obvious parallels between our culture and theirs - graffiti looked similar, their body structure looked analogous to ours, and were obviously relatively advanced, given the fact that we had been shot down by jet interceptors with missiles.

I focused back on the train. The train engine was to the right, and the lights were still on. This seemed to be some sort of fuel station, judging from the flexible pipes going from the tanks to the engine. The conductor wasn't anywhere in sight, but it would still be a place to hide, even if it didn't get underway.

"Alright. Stay close to me, guys." Kovalev began to slowly crouch-walk back to the treeline, slowly getting us a better view of the complex. Pearce and I followed close behind.

There were still aliens gathered at a few buildings down to the far left, but there were none on the right. Tall floodlights were illuminating the tracks and the train. "Do either of you know how to open a shipping container?" he asked, immediately seeming to recognize how bad of a question that was.

"Never learned, sir. Skipped that class during training."

"Haha, very funny. Let's hope that they're self intuitive," he said. Ensign Pearce turned his head and nodded in approval. Suddenly, the sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance, slowly growing closer. "Obviously, they're not giving up the search so easily." He thought for a few seconds. "Okay. Now, on my mark, run to those containers as quietly as possible. Knock on the side to try and find one that's empty. I'm not really sure if anyone even ships empty containers, but that's beside the point." In the distance, just beyond the buildings, the helicopter that we had our eye on prior was moving towards us, with the spotlight on.

"There's three of us, sir. How do we-" Another jet flew overhead, this one particularly low, drowning out everything else for a few seconds. "How do we go about this?" I finished.

"Good point. I'll check the containers to the right of that weird-painted one." He pointed out a white container that had a strange-looking image of one of the aliens in a black suit, with what I hoped to be exaggerated facial expressions. "Vance, you go left. And Jack, you keep an eye on the perimeter. If anyone starts coming our way, do... something. Again, do not shoot them, under any circumstances."

"I wasn't planning on it, man." Pearce said.

"Good. Alright, on my mark..." he shifted forwards past the treeline. "Coast is clear. There's two aliens, ten o'clock. They're distracted by the jets." Suddenly, he gave his mark. We all sprinted across the sharp gravel to the train, and began to knock on each container, as was planned.

Although the last jet passed overhead, my heart was still beating extraordinarily quickly. I could hear the distant sound of police sirens growing closer and closer as we moved through each container, trying to find one that sounded empty. Thankfully, my prayers came true, when I knocked on an unusually rusted bleached-white cargo container that was uncomfortably close to the rear of the train. I kept a close eye on the aliens as I scrambled atop the railcar and shimmied to the doors of the container. Lieutenant Kovalev and Ensign Pearce both saw me and immediately ran over as quickly as they could.

"You found one?" Pearce asked. "Any idea how to get it open?"

"Short of a crowbar, no," I said. There was strange text written on it, in a language I had never seen before. Granted, that was to be expected, seeing that aliens turned out to genuinely exist. There were four metal rods, two on one door, two on the other. All rods had handles, kept down by latches. "I take that back, I think I see..." I didn't finish the sentence, instead focusing on getting it open. The police sirens were getting closer, and it was getting harder to concentrate.

I pushed the latches on the right door upwards, and then grabbed onto the handles, first trying to pull downwards, and then upwards. The handles moved more than they did before, but the door still didn't budge. I pulled upwards and back with all the strength I had.

"Crap!" I shouted. The door suddenly flung open and I was swung off the train, and onto the gravel. I lost my breath for a couple seconds.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Pearce asked, quickly helping me get back up. Kovalev pulled a flashlight out of his backpack and tossed it inside the container while trying to get up.

"Yeah, I'm good," I said. He nodded, and climbed onto the railcar.

My heart skipped a beat when I looked to the left and saw that one of the aliens was making direct eye contact with me. We were both completely still, holding it for an uncomfortably long time.