Short Story: Nobody's Job (1.480 words)

**Nobody's Job** My name is Stella Vespasia, and I might be a terrible person. I don't think I'm a *bad* person, mind you. I'm a crack security specialist, I pay my taxes, brush my teeth regularly, and I would never put mayonnaise on a hot dog. By all accounts, I've lived what most people would consider a morally consistent life. But if the definition of who you are is defined by the choices you make, then I'd like to argue that I acted very selfishly a few years ago. After all, I survived. And nothing else did. \*\* \*\* "You know, Stella, this is most certainly not the adventure I signed up for." I glared at my friend. "Mining the asteroid belt is *not* an adventure, Allan. This is a job." "Job? Our latest catch has been a rotting, ancient hunk of rock full of lead and useless metals, we're low on water, and it's been months since we've seen another human being. Haven't you heard the old saying?" "'Space is your grave. And I'm working a double shift.'" "Ha! No. 'Do a job nobody else will, and you'll be working a job nobody else wants.'" I chuckled despite myself, giving my friend my best withering look. "I hope you didn't spend all night coming up with that." He shrugged. "I did." The ship rumbled around us, and I reached out instinctively to steady myself on the maintenance corridor wall. "That's a pretty big burn. What's our destination?" Allan screwed his face up, a habit he'd never grown out of. "Well, remember that weird meteorite that hit Titan?" I blinked. "The one that... *moved*?" "Yeah. That one. We're being paid to go bring it back." I'd seen the footage. We all had. One of those weird media events that captivated the entire human race: A massive meteor had struck Titan... and then *left*. It moved slowly across the surface of the moon, taking a meandering path across lakes of liquid methane and leaving strange, useless-looking buildings in its wake, before escaping Saturn's orbit entirely. It was headed in our general direction, and the scientists were quick to sign us up to go and retrieve it. "You know, Allan," I said, "space really, really isn't our grave." "It's not?" He eyes sparkled with mirth. "Then what is it?" Our trip was uneventful. This is both a blessing and a curse. As a security contractor, I *want* boring. I *like* boring. Boring is when everyone gets home safe. I think, looking back, that might be why I made the decisions I made. \*\* \*\* "Alright, guys," I said, voice low. "Let's go get weird." "Roger that," said Allan. He grabbed my shoulder, grinning. "Stay safe, Stella." "You too." I dropped out of the ship and into space. I loved this part - the closest I'd ever come to flying, the feeling of weightlessness, the sheer freedom of drifting through the void. My suit's computer said we were about two hundred meters away from the meteorite. I set my course and burned towards it. As I drew closer, I realized just how massive this thing was going to be. It was huge, and it didn't look like any meteor I'd ever seen. There were *windows*, a hatch that looked like it opened... what *was* this? "Oddly," I said, "I don't think this is a meteor." "Roger that, Stella," my friend said, high above me. "Sensors are lighting up. It's not from around here." "Well," I said quietly. "At least we're off the hook for bringing it back." "I'd offer to come down, but-" "No, I got this." "All right, be safe down there." "Don't worry about me, I'm a crack security specialist." "Yeah, yeah." I landed hard on the metal hull, having to scramble to keep from bouncing off. The hatch opened at my touch, and I slipped inside. It was like a printshop in there. Stampers and molders and soldering irons... all sorts of weird machinery I didn't recognize. There was a control panel in the center of the room, and I went to it. "Welcome," a voice said. "I have returned." "Um," I said. " Returned from where?" "I was sent to survey a galaxy," it said. "To prepare the way, to claim the territory, to prepare the planet that would serve as capital. And I have returned." "You've... been gone a long while," I said. "That's all we can really say for sure." "It has been... twelve years," the voice said. "But that's fine. I will begin my preparations again. This planet - Earth - is acceptable." I smiled. "Well, we can't actually get humans to agree on anything, but I'll take that as a win." "What? No." "I'm kidding," I said. "We're not going to let you call Earth your capital planet." "You may not stop me." "You mean you can't stop *me*," I said, drawing my sidearm. "I'm a crack security specialist, and-" "I know," it said. "I recycled your friends and re-tasked their ship. I've also sealed all of the doors. If you can stop me, you'll stop me here." I cursed, bringing up the sights on my pistol. "You're wasting your time," it said. "I am designed with redundancy. Kill me here, and another module will pick up where I left off." I cursed. "You're not going to threaten Earth." "I have already begun. I have released a nanotech swarm. It will eat all of the metal on the planet, turning it to dust. And then, I will bring the useful resources here, to the moon, and claim it as my own. Just as I have so many other planets." I cursed, and shot it. \*\* \*\* I frantically scrambled through the ship, trying to find the nanotech dispenser. The main module was dead, and for lack of trying, I couldn't figure out how to destroy the rest of it. I ran, and I ran, and I *ran* through that goddamned place, and finally found the airlock. I opened it, and... It was already gone. So I did the only thing I could do. I went back to the control module, and... programmed myself in. I gave myself Administrator access, and then I made a new protocol. All the ships that were still running, I sent them back to reclaim all the resources they'd taken. All the buildings on Titan, I sealed. And then... I gave myself a new task. I was to wait. To wait until humans returned, and reclaim the moon. To give them a home, a base, a history, a resource. And to warn them about the swarm. *The swarm I couldn't stop.* But I was a crack security specialist. And I *knew* how to stay alive. I had to. The Earth was depending on me. \*\*\* I'm telling you this story from Titan. I've been here two years now, and I'm confident that nothing else did. I won't be here forever. But I'm going to be here a while. And that, I'm afraid, is my job.

Short Story: Nobody's Job (1.480 words)

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