Luyten V

“What? What is this?” Rose stared, open-mouthed, dumbfounded by what she was hearing. This was a future version of her? What sense did that make? This had to be a nightmare! It was the only logical explanation.

“The enemy is called the Altair,” her future self grimaced, clutching her left arm. Dazed by the sudden, insane development of this conversation, Rose hadn’t noticed the ugly purple growth attached to her future self’s arm. Worse, the infection pulsated, growing and spreading as she watched. Adult Rose was hanging on by the thinnest thread, pushing herself to finish this one final vital message. Dear God, Rose was watching her own destruction.

“They appeared twenty years ago. From where? Nobody knows. There are theories, but outer dimensional physics is beyond me,” Future Rose grunted, gasping in pain. “They seek to consume everything. Not just humanity, the planet, or even the solar system… Everything. Period.”

Alarms whirled as something impacted Luyten V. Rose winced as a violent moment jerked her hard in her seat. Her breath caught, her heart pounding painfully in her chest as the monster filled her viewscreen, acidic drool dripping from its mouth, scaring her robot’s metal skin. The monster’s mouth extended wide, revealing rows of jagged, needle-like teeth.

“I’ve uploaded everything we have about the Altair onto Luyten V’s computer system.” Her future self’s pain intensified, sagging as she had trouble keeping herself afloat. “Sorry, I have to leave you. I must send Luyten V back before I fade away. The Luyten V is our hope. Use it wisely, please. Good luck, Rose. And please protect Sophia for me, okay?” The scene went black.

“What?” She yelled, screaming for more instruction. But only silence answered her desperate pleas. Protect her sister? Why? Had something happened? But Rose didn’t have time to process this dire message. Sirens howling as a claw tore into Luyten V’s chest. The entire cockpit rumbled as it took blow after blow. Rose screamed, her hands rushing across the cockpit’s countless buttons and levers, trying to find anything to save herself.

“Why didn’t you add some instructions to this stupid thing, future me!” Rose grabbed what seemed like control sticks and tugged on them experimentally. The cockpit jerked as Luyten V took a sudden right turn. “Well, that’s something.”

The monster pounced again, but a sudden left turn made Luyten V’s arm smack into its head. The creature howled, crushing a nearby empty playground. A clumsy counterattack, but it’ll do. “Does this thing have weapons?” Dare she even risk it with people so close?

“Master basic movements first.” And the controls weren’t as difficult as she first expected. They seemed intuitive enough, something she’d design. Which, Rose realized, she had. With some fiddling around, Luyten V took its first tentative steps forward.

The monster mastered itself, rising to its feet and howling at her. Its mouth opened too wide, and writhing purple tentacles wrapped around Luyten V’s left arm, pulling her forward to clamp its nasty, jagged teeth onto her.

Rose uttered some unladylike curses, throwing a fist into the monster’s face. But this defiance only made it more determined to swallow her whole, metal grinding as the tentacles gripped tighter. Consecutive punches did more damage, but the monster refused to be deterred.

“Come on, you stupid thing. You must have more than this!” The cockpit bucked as the monster’s mouth engulfed Luyten V’s left arm, trying to shred it with jerky motions like a shark. Rose winced at every squeal and tear.

“I can’t do this! I’m just a twelve-year-old girl!” Tears leaked from Rose’s eyes, convinced she was going to die.

“Huh?” A sudden light blazed to life, demanding her attention. The flashing button read Spectral Beam.

“What the heck.” It wasn’t like she had better options. After pulling up a tab, she pressed a button with a thumb. A tear across the air was incredible, a beam lancing from Luyten V’s forehead. The blast tore through the Altair monster like paper, leaving a jagged line of scorched flesh. Much to Rose’s dismay, the red-hot beam also melted a portion of her town’s radio tower.

“Oops.” Rose grimaced as the structure crumbled into a twisted metal heap, unable to hold its weight due to the damage.

The monster staggered, somehow still alive despite the hole burnt through its torso. Instead of blood and gore, it oozed distorted pixels, like something from a video game. Its body became fuzzy, less substantial. Rose didn’t hesitate, a fist impacted its head with a sickening crunch. She smacked it again and again, channeling her fear and rage into each punch. The blows reduced the pavement to a miniature crater before Rose stopped.

Despite the punishment, the Altair refused to die. It stumbled back to its feet, its body already reconstructing itself. The pixels reforged together to create flesh again.

“Well, shoot. Now what?” Was this thing unkillable? Her future self won’t have sent the Luyten V into the past without some way to win, right? In answer to her desperate plea, another light drew her attention.

“That should work!” Rose’s mouth widened into a shark-like grin, eager to claim victory.

“Dynaspike!” A palm drove right into the Altair’s face, light gathering from its chest and diverting itself into the attacking appendage. The creature recoiled as the palm slammed into its skull, squirming as it clamped onto its face. Rose’s smile widened as she thumbed the button on her joystick’s head. Pixels spattered in a geyser as a spike erupted from Luyten V’s palm, driving right through its head. Energy gathered into the spike’s head and unleashed its terrible payload. The Altair jerked as it coursed through its body before splattering to pieces as energy atomized it, the pavement melting from the heat and power of the special attack.

“Is it over?” Rose’s breath heaved as she tried to regain some composure. She stared in astonishment as the Altair monster pixelated further before vanishing into nothing, like it’d never existed. If the visual damage wasn’t there, Rose would’ve assumed the entire incident had been only a terrible nightmare. With a thud, the spike retracted back into Luyten V’s hand.

“I won.” A croaking laugh escaped her lips, unable to believe her eyes. Somehow, she’d won. The system reported damage to Luyten V’s left arm, but it otherwise seemed okay.

“Like that matters. I’m never piloting this thing again!” Let the government figure this nonsense out! A worrying thought suddenly occurred to Rose. How would she escape this contraption?

Much to her relief, a lever opened the cockpit to the open air. Luyten V bent down and escorted Rose out onto the pavement using the same tentacles it’d used to kidnap her. Never did concrete feel so good under her feet.

“Rose!” A fearful voice said, catching her attention. Much to her surprise, it was Hans, breathless as he approached her. He stared at her with wide, amazed eyes. He shook his head and composed himself back to his usual jerk self.

“You’re safe,” Hans said, his voice returning to its usual gruffness. “You fought that monster and won. What is that thing? Is this robot what crashed last night?”

“Heck, if I know!” Rose threw up her hands. “Everything happened so fast!”

“Yet, you piloted it? And defeated that monster?” Hans asked more questions, ones that Rose couldn’t hope to answer.

“Look!” Rose said, losing her temper. Was he going to suggest she was an alien spy or something?

Before she could go into a tirade, several cop cars drove up to their position. Two cops opened their doors, gazing up at the giant machine looming over them. There was something threatening about the giant titan, fearing it’d attack them if they dared harm its pilot. More officers appeared, and Rose feared she’d have a long day sorting this mess out.

---

“So, um, am I in trouble?” The slight, black-haired girl said, fidgeting in her chair. “I did kinda destroy school property.”

“No, you’re not,” Agent Sandage said, all genial politeness. “In fact, we owe you a great debt for your service. You may have saved the entire planet, Miss Brahe.”

“Oh.” Rose shifted in her seat, both mollified and flattered.

“Humble girl. I’d be preening myself like a peacock if I were in her position,” Agent Sandage thought, amused. It spoke well of her. The fact she even piloted that metal monstrosity was an outright miracle.

“In fact, the President says he wants to shake your hand for the service you did for your planet,” Sandage said. “There’s talk of giving you a substantial scholarship for your future education.” If Miss Brahe truly had a hand in Luyten V’s creation, it’d be wise to keep her future career under careful observation. She was a resource America couldn’t afford to lose.

Rose stayed silent for several moments before answering in a whisper, a hand trembling as she spoke. “Did you see the video? The one from me?”

Sandage released a breath. How could he forget? It’d left a powerful impression on everyone in the agency. “We did. While Luyten V’s operating system is beyond anything we’ve seen before, it was compatible with Lunettes 11, thank God. We pulled its crucial files without much issue.”

America’s finest minds were already combing over the files. Though, he wondered if they’d even understood a quarter of them. The implications were staggering. Time travel? Alien invaders? Super weapons? It was beyond belief.

“Do you really think it’s from the future?” Sandage understood the girl’s trepidation, hearing the tremor in her voice. She’d seen her future self’s final words. That’d unsettle anyone.

“It’s too early to say. But the files date the year the Luyten V left as July 20th, 2046,” Sandage replied.

“Dear God, that’s how long we have left?” Sandage thought. Sure, he’d read the reports, but hearing it out loud brought its truth to harsh reality. He trembled with unchecked emotion, too. His David would be a fully grown adult, possibly already married with kids.

“I see…” Rose lowered her gaze to the floor, troubled. “I hope you guys figure something out.”

“We have the best minds working on the problem. There’s nothing you need to worry about.” Sandage hoped his words would prove true for all their sakes.

After asking further questions about the Luyten V and its operation, Sandage allowed Rose to leave. While his smile was reassuring, inwardly he was a bundle of nerves.

“Poor girl, she shouldn’t have got caught up in this,” his partner Brown said. He’d been watching the interview with Director Shapley behind a one-way mirror.

“Still, there’s one point that bothers me,” the director said. “Why did the Altair attack Rosemary Brahe?”

A chill spiked down Sandage’s spine. “What do you mean?”

“Sure, the creature went on a rampage through the city, but its initial target was Ursa Star Middle School,” Shapley said.

“Are you saying it specifically targeted her? That’s absurd! How would it know where Miss Brahe even went to school?” Sandage’s heart almost stopped as a horrible realization struck him. “The older Brahe was infected. She had a purple growth on her arm. Did it absorb her, take her knowledge, and hitch a ride as the Luyten V traveled through history?”

“It’s a possibility. I’ve ordered Doctor Gold to scan the files she left about the Altair first.” The document was hundreds of pages long. It’d take a considerable amount of time to read through thoroughly. While the document was sadly short of names on Luyten V’s future creators, it mentioned some choice names. They’d found the name Macauley mentioned more than once. Who was that? Was that their first or last name?

“Poor girl.” Sandage ran his fingers through his hair, a nervous habit. “At least she’s free of this mess. For now, at least.”

“I’m not so sure,” the director replied. “She’s the only one who’s been able to pilot the Luyten V so far. No one else can even make it even respond to them.”

“What?”

“It’s keyed to her DNA somehow. To keep her creation from entering the wrong hands, no doubt. Prudent of her.”

The giant robot’s appearance had already caused an international stir among the various world powers, with rumors running amok. Since the monster disappeared after its destruction, they didn’t have direct proof it existed. Shaky phone footage and frightened eyewitnesses wouldn’t be enough. Russia had already accused them of some elaborate cover-up for some new weapon. With the media whirled up into a frenzy, people were scared. He prayed the president’s address of the doctored version of events would ease some of the public’s fear and uncertainty. He’d already heard crackpots screaming on the news about an impending doomsday. It might be, but they hadn’t reached that point yet. Future Rosemary Brahe had given them a second chance.

“You’re not suggesting we train her to pilot the Luyten V, right? A twelve-year-old girl?” Rose was only three years older than Sandage’s own son, for goodness’ sake!

“You’re right. But we must consider all possibilities. We’re talking about an alien invasion here. The possible destruction of the world. But that’s a future problem. We’ll figure it out.” A slight smile crept on Director Shapley’s face, the first he’d shown since this grim crisis happened. “We have twenty-odd years to solve the problem.”

---

In the blackness of nothing, an eye opened. Indistinct shapes shifted, almost impossible to distinguish from their surroundings. They’d fed well here, but it and its brethren were hungry again. They lived to consume. To starve was death. With nothing left remaining to eat, they needed to move elsewhere.

A signal caught its attention, faint but a clear voice in the dark. Odd. Busy with the feeding, they hadn’t had the chance to send feelers out yet to discover new feeding grounds. Yet, this message came from them, a promise of impending food. Along with a name of an enemy, one they should eradicate with prejudice, Rosemary Brahe.

The portent of this message puzzled them. Yet it enticed them to a fevered pitch. It was a call they dared not ignore, along with an enemy that deserved their absolute attention. Yes, this new dwelling place would suit them nicely.

But they would approach the matter with caution. The food was often devious and clever. This might be a trap to feed upon them instead. They would send scouts to clear the way, making their ingress into this new reality easier. Then the feasting would begin, sating their agonizing appetite until they searched for more plentiful fields. But they won’t rush. They could afford to be patient. The anticipation heightened the taste of their prey.