by Edward Brody
Sandra put her face close to the clear glass of the container and spoke a little louder than normal, “How do you feel in there? Is everything okay?”
Mich gave several short nods. “Yeah, yeah it’s okay. A little cold but okay.”
He was, in fact, terrified. Once Sandra had closed the cell, he felt a bit of claustrophobia, and what was about to happen was fully settling in. His heart raced as if he about to reach first arch on a roller-coaster, right before the big drop.
“See you soon,” Sandra whispered.
Sandra stepped away from the containment cell and over to the bald man who was standing beside the control panel. “How are we looking?” she asked the man.
“Everything is good to go.”
Sandra nodded, turned her head toward Mich and spoke loudly, “Are you ready Mr. Sandstone?”
Mich nodded.
“Okay, I want you to close your eyes and mouth and listen to me count backwards from 3.”
Mich closed his eyes and waited.
Sandra wrote some notes on her clipboard and spoke slowly, steadily, “3… 2… 1.”
Mich was counting in unison inside of his head.
At the moment she reached 1, she tapped her companion on the shoulder, and he in turn pressed a button on the control panel.
Within the blink of an eye, the entire containment cell was filled with a slightly opaque liquid and frozen solid, along with Mich, and the room was notably colder. Through the clear glass, the shape of Mich’s body was visible, but the fine details could not be made out with the solid ice surrounding him.
Sandra walked over to the cell and did a quick inspection, noting several things on her clipboard. “Looks good,” she said.
The man at the control panel pressed a couple of buttons, and a hydraulics system was activated, starting the process of sending the containment cell through the storage passage and to deep underground.
Sandra walked over to the man and removed her goggles. “So have you had lunch yet?”
“Not yet. I’m starving.” The man replied.
“The roast beef they have across the street,” Sandra put a palm in the air and tilted her head back. “It’s incredible.”
Chapter Seven
“Relax Mr. Sandstone,” one of the white-skinned creatures said, it’s voice sounding like music. “We’re not going to hurt you.”
Mich was slowly starting to regain his strength and was struggling to get up from the table they had placed him on as he was rolled through a corridor.
“What’s going on? Where am I?” he cried. The whole experience was terrifying Mich and his heart was beating so hard, it hurt. He had seen UFO videos on television before and expected that they were taking him somewhere to put a needle in his eye or give him an anal probe.
“This is RN Salvager 9,” the creature answered.
“What the fuck is RN Salvager 9?! And who or what are you?”
“This is a salvage recovery ship, and as you might have guessed, we are salvagers. We found you in that strange device while we were mining metal on E-17.”
“Mining what? E-seven what?”
“Relax Mr. Sandstone. Everything will be fine.”
“Hey, wait a minute!” Mich chided as he put all of his effort into forcing his body to sit up.
The creature on his right placed a 4-fingered hand on Mich’s chest and pressed with just enough pressure to keep him down. “Please sir, relax.”
Mich continued to fight and squirm to get his way off of the table.
“I think we are going to have to apply temperate fluid,” one of the creatures said.
The creature to the left of Mich reached into a bag under the table, pulled out a small cylinder the size of a battery, and placed the end against Mich’s neck, releasing a hissing sound. Immediately, Mich went lethargic and laid still, watching different shapes and colors pass by as they took him wherever he was going.
“Humans… such uncivilized creatures,” the being on the left muttered.
“Hmm yes.” The one the right nodded in agreement.
* * *
As they descended closer to the planet, the white skinned pilot spoke through his command deck. “This is RN Salvager 9. We will be landing at Port 9 in approximately 7 minutes. Requesting security escort.”
A reply was received. “RN Savlager 9, please reroute to port 12. A security escort has been confirmed.”
“Port 12 confirmed.”
The large, rectangular ship landed silently at port 12, and immediately a gate was released at its side. Standing at each end of the exit platform were two large guards with bulky grey armor covering everything but their heads. Strapped to their backs were long metal slabs that were something like a sword, and in their hands were rifle-like weapons. They were a little over 6’0 tall with longish black hair and faces that were very much like humans, except their earlobes were thin ovals, extending all the way down to their shoulders. Dark round circles surrounded the eyes of their alpine white skin.
The two salvagers stepped out of the ship with the nearly naked Mich walking in between them, head dangling, his hands behind his back and rope wrapped all around his upper body. He was wearing only a loincloth the creatures fashioned for him.
“Please escort us to the Queen. We recovered this being from E-17 and believe it to be human.”
One of the guard’s eyes slanted in disbelief. “A human from E-17? Hmph. Probably just runaway servant.”
One of the salvagers repeated, “Please escort us to the Queen.”
It wasn’t long before they found themselves in the Queen’s chamber. It was a huge hall with benched rows on each side and purple and copper colored carpet leading to a large copper throne with an impossibly sized sword hilt sticking out the back. The walls were adorned with towering stained glass windows with images of humanoid beings wielding long, sword weapons with something akin to electricity circling and extending out of the tips.
A stubby bodied man akin to a midget, yet having a huge, unevenly shaped head stepped forward and bellowed loudly in a deep voice, “Queen Vashalla, goddess of Nerria and 13th ruler of the Galaxy welcomes you to her court.”
Sitting in the large throne was a beautiful female who bore the resemblance of a human aged 20-25. She was wearing a red dress that extended past her feet and covered her arms up to the tips of her fingers. Long, dark brown hair fell across her chest, and on top of her head was copper crown with 3 small sword hilts fanning out the upper edge, spaced apart evenly. Her skin was almost as white as the guards, and inserted into her lobes were shiny, flat, copper-colored spheres, roughly the size of a quarter.
To her left was a man with honey colored skin and golden blond hair, standing patiently with his hands crossed to the front. If it weren’t for his impossible height–Mitch guessed over 7-foot tall–Mich would have assumed he was human. He was wearing a thin, copper-colored armor, and slipped over the armor was a brown robe, open in the front. Extending from his back was a massive greatsword, and the right side of his face bore a tattoo in the image of a dragon.
The two creatures who recovered Mich approached the Queen’s throne and stopped short, roughly 20 or so feet, pushing Mich slightly ahead of them.
“Well salvagers, what brings your party to Nerria today?” the Queen asked sternly.
“Your Majesty, we found this being while scavenging for metals on E-17. We believe that it is a human survivor.”
The Queen’s eyebrows raised. “A human survivor? There haven’t been reports of humans on E-17 for several decades.”
One of the scavengers stepped forward and produced the metal box they found in the Cryonics enclosure. The tall, blonde man stepped down to inspect it and handed it to the Queen.
The Queen looked the box over, and on the bottom was sticker that read “Mich Sandstone- VPoint Cyrogenics- Entry Date June 3, 2016.” The Queen’s eyes narrowed.
“We were digging roughly a mile underground when we hit a large metal chamber. When we
started salvaging the metal of the chamber, this is what we found inside. It was trapped inside a thick container and frozen in solid ice, along with the metal box you’re holding.”
“He was the only one?”
“Yes, as far as we know, Your Majesty. But we retreated to our ship as soon as we found the one. We allowed it to thaw, and it immediately begin behaving erratically. This one… seems to be especially dumb.”
Mich was listening to the whole exchange, silent and completely in shock at what was going on. He had since regained all his senses and body movement, and couldn’t believe anything that was happening was actually happening. Just a couple days ago, he was sleeping with a hot stripper in his downtown loft, and now he was sitting before the throne of Queen Vashalla in a room full of aliens on planet Nerria? He pinched the back of his thighs several times with his tied hands, hoping that it was all a dream.
“Creature, can you speak?” the Queen asked.
“Yes, of course,” Mich said lowly.
“Address the Queen with some respect!” the tattooed man snapped.
“It’s okay, Tamor,” the Queen assured him. “This man may not be familiar with our customs.”
Tamor frowned and glared at Mich with his teeth clenched tightly.
“What is your name creature?” the Queen continued.
“My name is Mich. Mich Sandstone”
“And Mich, what species are you? Where are you from?”
Mich raised his head and stared directly at the Queen. “Is it not obvious? I’m human. I’m from Los Angeles, California. I’m from Earth.”
At the mention of Earth, everyone in the room seemed to grow tense and uncomfortable.
“Earth? It’s been a long time since anyone has referred to E-17 as that,” the Queen said quietly.
She increased her voice. “Scavengers, you have done well for bringing him to me. Skarnor, please see that the scavengers are rewarded 300,000 credits for their deeds, and escort them back to their ship.”
The stubby man with the uneven head stepped forward and bowed. “Yes, Your Majesty.” He walked out the chamber with the scavengers who were back peddling towards the door while constantly bowing in thanks for their reward.
“Guards, please untie him,” the Queen ordered.
One of the guards stepped forth and untied Mich’s hands, removing the rope covering his upper body.
“Please tell me how you came to be frozen and buried underground Mich.”
“I… I don’t know how to explain.” Mich stuttered. “I went to the cryonics lab, and the plan was for me to undergo a human suspension trial for 7 days… so I could be on their board of directors. It was supposed to be safe. It seems like it was just yesterday.”
“And what date was yesterday?”
“Yesterday… I guess yesterday was a Friday. It would’ve been June 3rd… June 3rd 2016.
Tamor’s eyes widened and he looked towards the Queen. “Right before The Cleanse...”
Queen Vashalla dug further. “How old are you Mich?”
“26… Look, I don’t understand any of this. I don’t understand how I got here. Please will you tell me what’s going on? I just want to go home.”
“Earth is no more Mich,” the Queen said affirmatively.
Mich’s pulled his eyelids wide, and his jaw slacked.
“We do not give proper names to planets that are never or no longer suitable for life. Earth is now known as E-17.”
“I don’t understand.” Mich shook his head in disbelief.
“It would appear you were frozen right before Earth underwent what is known now as The Cleanse. Your people attacked and annihilated each other and brought ruin upon your planet. Earth is now a desolate place, only used for salvaging the metals that humans left behind. The galaxy now refers to what was once Earth as E-17. It is now the year 2086. You’ve been frozen for 70 years.”
Mich’s eyes shifted to the ground, as he tried to process the information. “70 years…” he whispered to himself.
After digesting the Queen’s word for a few seconds, Mich looked back up at the Queen. “Are you telling me that humans are gone?”
“No,” the Queen replied. “The Galactic Council has always kept a close eye on humans, and when your people nearly made yourselves extinct, we intervened to save as many as we could.”
“How many humans are left?”
“Tamor, how many humans would you estimate are still alive today?”
“Roughly 10 million, My Lady.”
Mich tried to imagine a world where everyone but the population of Los Angeles was gone, but he couldn’t quite wrap his head around it.
“Yes…” the Queen continued. “Aside from a handful of strays here and there, we relocated all humans to a fragment known as Rashada. Assuming you don’t cause any problems, you will be moved there as well. Do you have any questions?”
“I wouldn’t know where to begin…”
“Very well,” the Queen said. “Tamor, please show our guest to one of our standard-grade rooms and have 2 guards attend the entrance at all times. Arrange a high-security flight for him directly to Rashada, first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Tamor said with a bow.
“Oh, I almost forgot… The box. What’s inside?”
Tamor picked the box up and pulled a small blade from his belt. He pried opened the lid and peeked the contents to the Queen. “Some old clothes, what appears to be keys, and an ancient looking communication device. Nothing of value.”
“Let him keep it,” the Queen said.
Tamor walked over to Mich and snarled his nose. “Follow me,” he demanded.
He escorted him down several hallways, every wall ornamented with fine art and pictures of creatures similar in appearance to the Queen and her guards. Finally, they arrived to a door with another guard standing nearby.
“You stay here tonight,” Tamor barked. “If you need anything, ask one of the guards. I’ll send someone to check on you later.” Tamor stepped closer to Mich and looked down at him menacingly. “We don’t take kindly to humans here. If you cause any trouble, I’ll have your head.”
Tamor lifted his chin and pushed the metal box into Mich’s chest before fiercely walking way.
Chapter Eight
Inside of Mich’s room was a large window, a bed with a portrait of Queen Vashalla overhead, a small metal table and a chair with a large bottle of drinking water and 2 cups. Beside the bed was a small light Mich tested by flicking off and on.
He walked slowly towards the window and looked outside. The city was colorful and bursting with movement. Thin, elevated streets that seemed to defy physics were wrapping around in every direction. On the streets were oval shaped vehicles moving across at incredible speed, hovering roughly an inch off the ground. Tall thin buildings of various colors and sizes made up the landscape, an orange colored horizon with a large, red moon hovering in the background. A sparse amount of flying ships of all different shapes and sizes weaved slowly in between the streets and buildings. Directly below him was a sidewalk where a number of humanoid creatures were parading by, talking, and interacting very similar to what he would expect to see if he were still on Earth. Some of them appeared human, and a few were obviously not.
He wondered if all of Nerria looked the same.
Mich staggered over to the bed and slowly laid himself down on his back, mentally and physically drained by the day’s events. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, his life had completely changed.
He reached for the metal box that Tamor left with him and pulled out the cell phone he had put inside before stepping into the containment cell. To his amazement, the screen lit up when he pressed the power button on the phone. There was one unread message, which he must have received right before the freeze.
Benny: Don’t talk about dying now dude. It’s not funny. But just in case, where did you put the keys to the Aston? :0)
Mich smiled.
He toggled over
to the photos he had stored on the phone and slowly swiped his finger across the screen as he looked at each one. A picture of him and Benny at a bar in Hollywood. A picture of Amy making a kissy face. A picture of a random one-night-stand laying naked on his bed. A selfie. Benny sticking his tongue out. Another selfie…
Then his phone battery died.
Mich slumped his head, and tears began pooling in his eyes. He wasn’t sure whether he should be thankful for being alive or sad for the situation he was in. Benny was gone. Amy was gone. Everyone he had ever known was dead. If he hadn’t done the Cryonics trial, he’d be dead too. He looked around the strange room and towards the window. Would it have been better off if he had just died?
There was a knock at Mich’s door, and he used the back of his palm to quickly wipe the moisture from his face. After a couple of a seconds, the door opened, and a human-looking girl entered the room. She was wearing a loose-fitting, strapless blue dress that drug slightly across the ground, and a pearl necklace of 5 or 6 strands dangled perfectly across her large bosom. Her hair was light brown, and she had a long French braid falling far down her back. In her right hand, she was carrying a small book. On her peach white skin, a long, slim, red, rectangular shape similar to a tattoo extended from where her hair met her forehead and tapered to a point right between her eyes.
“Good evening,” she said as she walked inside of the room. “Tamor sent me to attend to you. Your name is Mich, right?”
“Yes.” Mich attempted to force a smile. His eyes were pointedly drawn to the girl’s large chest, and he realized then that every female he had seen thus far since awakening–Well, just the Queen and the new girl–had been exceptionally attractive, although arguably he had no idea if the salvagers were male or not.
“My name is Lena. It’s nice to meet you.” The girl smiled. “Have you eaten anything yet? Would you like some food?”
The mention of food made his stomach tighten. “Yes, thank you. I am quite hungry.”
