Scrapyard Ship Read Online Free PDF

was then, once he had gotten closer, that Jason realized the little fellow wasn’t quite human.
    Up until then Jason hadn’t actually seen his face. He’d been walking or running away from Jason and the baseball cap had obscured his misshapen head. He looked like the character in the popular Spielberg movie, ET: Oversized-almond-shaped eyes, a rounded triangular-shaped head, little stubby arms. All that but with a unique, defining difference: This alien was also part machine. From ten yards out, Jason could clearly see he was more mechanical than organic; strange too, since he was whistling a tune and acting anything but machine-like. Jason flattened himself closer against the old bus, hoping the now-armed robot-man-thing would pass by them without noticing their presence. He pulled Mollie closer to him and motioned for her to do the same.
    His ankle monitor chose that particular instant to make a single ‘beep’ sound. Jason cringed and stole a quick glance at Mollie, who was scowling and shaking her head at him. The robot creature, clearly on edge, spun to see what the noise was. Startled, a knee-jerk reaction caused him to pull the trigger—sending a bright blue bolt of energy in their direction. The mechanical man stood there transfixed—his weapon’s muzzle pointing in their direction. 
    Somehow Jason knew, even before he turned to Mollie, that she’d been hit. Turning to look at her, his eyes were drawn to a small, still smoldering burn hole in the middle of her chest, ruining her Little Kitty T-shirt. She looked up at him, wide-eyed, a mixture of astonishment and fear. Only one word escaped her lips, “Daddy?” before she crumpled to the ground.
    Jason grabbed for her. Took her in his arms—hoped that if he held her tight enough, long enough, the truth of what had just happened would somehow change—that his little girl would come back to him. He’d seen death on a regular basis: The vacant gaze—when spirit has left the body—when a person’s life is over. Jason fell to his knees and cried out, “Mollie, Mollie, Oh God Mollie…” He continued rocking her lifeless body—there in that grimy graveyard of rusted-out old cars, buses, and scrap metal. He set her body gently down on the ground and closed her eyes, then moved several wayward strands of hair off her face. The dread now rushed in at him from all directions. Why now, after all their years of being apart? Away at sea, then the divorce. Why now when they were just getting to know each other again? Jason looked down at Mollie.
    The only person who had loved him unconditionally was now dead. He felt the rage build from his core. He wanted blood.
    Jason spun around, arms outstretched, and leaped onto the small robot creature who had not moved. As with the bullets he’d fired into those pirates’ heads, there was no thinking, just raw primal action. His fingers wrapped around its thick metal-like neck and he squeezed with every bit of strength he possessed. He squeezed until his arms shook. But this metal didn’t react the same way as human flesh. Not to be deterred, Jason began banging its head against the concrete path. He did this repeatedly, over and over again, until its baseball hat flew off and he heard the satisfying crack of metal striking concrete.
    A shrieking shrill emanated from the robot’s distorted mechanical-looking mouth. It was trying to say something, but Jason had little interest in what it had to say. It screamed even louder, just a single, choking, string of words.
    “I…can…save…her….”
    Jason stopped and looked into the robot’s two glowing amber orbs. There was concern there, pleading, which was surprising to see in a mechanized being. “What do you mean you can save her? Can’t you see? You’ve killed her!” He screamed, ready to resume his assault on this mechanical abomination.
    “The ship,” the robot croaked, “we need to get her to the ship within five minutes.” The robot squirmed out from