Cab Driver

Captain Zax Karsan sat behind the controls of his intergalactic transport, staring at the flickering holographic map projected onto the windshield. He had been lost for days, and he had no idea how he had ended up on this strange planet called Earth, it was not on the map.

He cursed under his breath, his four arms twitching with frustration. This was supposed to be a routine job, just another fare to take from one planet to another. But somehow, he had taken a wrong turn, and now he was stuck on this primitive, backwater planet with no way to get back on course.

He glanced out the window and grimaced at the sight of the villagers milling about in their dirty clothes and animal skins. They stared at him with suspicion and fear, muttering to each other in a language he couldn’t understand, whilst the ship’s language translator started to learn the lingo.

Zax shook his head in disbelief. How had he gone from piloting a sleek spaceship through the stars to driving a rickety old transport on a planet that hadn’t even discovered electricity yet?

He muttered to himself as he scanned the holographic map, trying to find some clue as to where he had gone wrong. As he did, an unwelcome passenger climbed into his ship, interrupting his thoughts.

The passenger was a hulking, brutish-looking man with a bushy beard and an axe slung over his shoulder. Zax recoiled slightly at the sight of him, but he knew better than to judge a book by its cover.

“Where to?” he asked, trying to keep his voice steady, whilst the ship’s translator did its thing.

The man grunted and pointed towards the horizon, a nearby village. Zax nodded and started up the engine, hovering through the winding dirty roads towards the destination.

As they drove, Zax tried to make conversation with the passenger via the translator, hoping to learn more about this strange planet and its inhabitants. But the man only grunted and glared at him, making it clear he wasn’t in the mood for small talk.

They arrived at the village, and the man got out without a word, tossing a handful of coins in Zax’s direction, and jumped out of sight. Zax watched him go, his eyes narrowed. Something about the man made him uneasy, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on why.

He shook his head and tried to focus on finding his way back to his intended course. But as he drove, the holographic map flickered again, and he realised with a sinking feeling that he was hopelessly lost.

Zax sighed and leaned back in his seat, his four arms crossed over his chest. This was going to be a long, strange trip, and he had a feeling it was only going to get worse from here.

He did not see the flying arrows coming in his direction until one of them literally impaled him to his seat. Zax’s yellow blood started oozing and his breathing became intermittent – some of his organs were starting to fail, so the ship’s medical station was pumping drugs into his impaled body whilst the body self-healing and regeneration process started.

The ship’s medical robot started to pull the arrow out as the ship automatically closed up the windshield and started to fly higher above the ground to avoid further attacks.

Zax gritted his teeth as the medical robot worked on him, his mind racing with the realisation that he was not welcome on this planet. There were beings out there who were not friendly, and they had just tried to kill him.

He glanced out the window, searching for any signs of danger. The ship’s sensors were detecting movement in the trees surrounding the village, and he knew that he needed to act fast if he was going to survive.

He reached for the controls and activated the ship’s weapons system, scanning the area for any potential threats. As he did, he noticed something moving in the corner of his eye. He turned to look, and his heart sank as he saw a group of warriors emerging from the forest, their faces painted with war paint and their bodies adorned with primitive weapons. Zax knew that he was in deep trouble. He was no fighter, and his ship was not equipped to handle this kind of attack.

He needed to come up with a plan, and fast. He looked at the holographic map, searching for any potential escape routes. Zax closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. He knew that he had to stay focused if he was going to survive this.

He glanced down at his impaled arm and winced, the pain still pulsing through his body. He needed to think, and he needed to think fast. He had no idea what was going to happen next, but he knew that he was going to do everything in his power to survive. As the warriors closed in on his ship, Zax took a deep breath and activated the ship’s weapons system.

He knew that he was in for a fight, and he was determined to come out on top.

That’s when the explosions started all around his ship, big columns of smoke and fire engulfing the warriors, the trees, scorching the earth in one sweep.

Zax looked at the sensors again, and was hailed by a friendly racoonian voice via the translator – “This is your rescue towing service from the sector, we will take you back home with us, you can thank your insurer that they placed a beacon in your ship! We’ve been monitoring your erratic course for the last few hours, seems like we were quite timely”