“Ghost?” Floyd volunteered. None of this made sense though, Maura wasn’t usually the type to overreact.
“Well, that’s an odd coincidence,” Crash said, “because I’m here to report a ghost woman in my shower this morning.”
“So I heard,” Maura said. “Which is stupid. Why report that? Were you injured? Do you really want to file a complaint?”
“Yes,” Crash said, “I want to file a complaint that she disappeared. One minute she was right there, soaping up, and the next minute poof, like you said.”
Maura rolled her eyes.
Floyd suddenly felt like a high school principal. “What you need to do, Maura, is check to make sure you didn’t hurt people by accidentally,” at the word accidentally, Floyd raised both eyebrows as if suggesting a suitable pattern of defense for a report, “firing a giant weapon in the middle of a living area of a space station at a disappearing monster. Other than that, I don’t want anything to do with this. Maura, go check out the area and make sure everyone is okay. Crash, you go back to work. And you two find somebody else to complain to. Got it?”
“Like who?” Crash asked.
“I don’t care. Just not me. And Maura, I want a full report on the weapons incident on my desk today. Other than that, you two had better not come here again unless you have something to actually report.”
“What if the monster comes back while I’m checking on everything?” Maura asked.
“Crash,” Floyd said, “you go with her.”
Crash began to object, but Floyd narrowed his eyes and held up his hands at them. “Enough. Crash, you are space station security-“
“All you ever need, baby.”
“And you will accompany Maura to the incident area and help her make sure everything is clear, got it?”
He nodded.
Lyra escaped Callista’s office and breathed a sigh of relief. Vampires were not her favorite thing. But she could live with the whole blood donation thing for now, as long as she only needed slight amounts and didn’t mind it being drawn normally and handed to her in a nice, clean, vial.
And electricity wasn’t a big deal. Helping Callista was the least she could do. After all, Callista had saved them all from Scythe.
She headed back to the hospital. The walk was helping to clear her mind. And she was nearly there when she turned a corner and ran headlong into Ian. “Ian. What are you doing on this side of the ship?”
“Well, hi to you too!” he said.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just surprised is all. You’ll never guess where I’ve been.” But he was still just looking at her. “What?”
“I’m here on my way to the hospital because you texted me. Why are you pretending you don’t know?”
“You think I texted you? Recently?”
“Yes,” he answered, “very recently.”
Lyra was confused. “I’m pretending I didn’t text you because I didn’t text you. Well, not since this morning, anyway. I’ve spent the last hour or so helping Callista. That’s where I’ve been.”
She could tell he looked dubious, so she pulled out her phone, opened up her texts, and held it up for him to see. “See? Nothing since the gotta go, babe.”
He wasn’t listening to her though, he was pulling out his own phone. He scrolled several times through a litany of new texts, at least a dozen, all taking place after the gotta go, babe.
She frowned. What in stars name is going on? She held her hand out for his phone and he handed it over. She looked over the dozens of texts that she had supposedly sent. They were increasingly filthy. “Ian! You really thought I sent these?”
He shrugged. “They were from you. Sure, they were different than our usual banter, but you can’t blame a guy for hoping, can you? How was I supposed to know that it wasn’t you?”
“You really thought you were coming to the hospital for a quickie with me in a patient room?”
“I should have known better.” He grinned. Then frowned. “Wait, if you didn’t send those to me, then who did?”
Lyra’s phone started playing the song If a booty shakes in space does anybody hear it?
Ian looked at her.
“It’s a long story, Ian, but it’s an emergency signal between Nancy and I. It’s not good, Ian. The last time Nancy sent that signal to me, Scythe was about to destroy us all in order to turn us into A.I. Zombies. We’ve gotta get back to the hospital.”
She took off at a run, Ian trailing behind.
Lyra burst through the hospital waiting room door. Again, considering Nancy’s emergency call for help, the waiting room was way too empty and way too quiet.
Gorb looked up at her. “What is it, Lyra?”
“Have you seen Nancy?”
“Yeah, boss, she’s right in there.” He pointed to the patient rooms down the hall.
If a booty shakes in space does anybody see it? played nearby on a phone.
“She texted me an emergency notification not five minutes ago,” Lyra said, following the sound of the song until she found the phone sitting by itself on a floor on the far side of the room. She picked it up. “And have you ever known her to be without her cell phone?” she asked Gorb.
“I don’t know. I mean, I thought she was back there checking on patients, boss. Why?”
“How long has that phone been playing the song?”
“You mean If a booty shakes in space does anybody see it? I love that song. I’ve been boogying to it for the last ten to fifteen minutes. What does it mean?”
“I don’t know,” Lyra said. “But I’m going to find out.” She steeled herself and looked at Ian. “I’ll be right back. If anything happens, call Grayson.”
“Sure,” Gorb said, “because that always works.”
She ignored the sarcastic comment and tiptoed down the hallway. She braced herself for the worst. Especially since she had no idea what was going on.
In front of her, a door opened. Lyra jumped. Only it was Nancy sneaking out of the door, and her hair was messed up.
“Nancy. What in the name of black holes is going on here?”
“Oh,” said Nancy, smoothing out her clothes. “Hi, Lyra. What’s going on?”
Lyra held up Nancy’s phone. “You sent me a bunch of emergency notifications. I thought you were in trouble. What’s going on?”
Nancy got close. “This Space Station is haunted.”
“What?”
“Ghosts. You haven’t noticed all the ghosts?”
Lyra didn’t expect that at all. “All I’ve noticed are a few wonky text messages. Where’d you get the haunting thing from?”
“Well,” said Nancy, “I am one eighteenth telepath on my dad’s side. I can always see these things coming. And I know for a fact that there are ghosts all over Celestica.”
“Okay, ghost girl. Where was all of this telepathy when we were about to get turned into zombies?”
“It’s not an exact science,” Nancy shot back.
Lyra crossed her arms. “Are you saying there are always ghosts on Celestica and we just don’t notice because we’re not you?”
“No, I’m saying that this haunting thing, whatever it is, is new. And probably not good.” She smoothed her hair.
Lyra couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She opened the door to the patient room that Nancy had just shut. She went in and looked around, but there was nothing there.
“That’s strange, the room is empty. Because it seems like you were, um, in there with somebody. Very with them, if you know what I mean.”
“I was, trust me,” Nancy said.
“You just did it with a ghost? And that doesn’t explain your phone summoning me for help.”
“Look,” Nancy said, getting closer so that she could whisper. “These ghosts are clever, and they can transform, temporarily, into any form you want them to be. And relax, we only made out.”
“Any form? Really?” Lyra raised an eyebrow.
“Any form. Trust me. And as far
as the phone goes, I have no clue. They hate being photographed, the ghosts. So, I left my phone outside the room. Hey, don’t tell anybody, ok?” She took her phone back.
“Don’t tell anybody? Tell them what? That you were sending me weird emergency texts while you were making out with a ghost? I’m not so sure I believe it myself, although your exit just now was pretty convincing.”
“Believe what you want, Lyra, but don’t knock it until you try it.”
“What’s going on?” Ian asked, sneaking up behind both Lyra and Nancy. Noticing Gorb as well, she wondered just how long they had both been standing there.
That’s when she heard a booming voice call out from the waiting room. “Lyra, be a dear and come tell me exactly what in the hell is going on with the space station right now.”
The voice belonged to Grayson.
“Why is he here?” Lyra asked Nancy, who shrugged.
At least Grayson wasn’t standing directly behind them eavesdropping like Ian and Gorb had been.
“What is it, Grayson?” Lyra asked, walking around the corner and back into the waiting room.
“What were all of you people talking about just now?” Grayson asked the group coming around the corner.
“Nothing.”
Grayson’s face turned crimson and he scowled. “Nothing? Nobody’s even in here with the patients.”
“But there aren’t any patients right now,” Gorb said as he floated back over to his desk.
“That is not the point,” Grayson replied.
“What is it that you need, Grayson?” Lyra asked, her hands on her hips.
“There are strange things happening, Lyra. And every time there are strange things happening, you’re always right in the middle of it.”
“Not this time,” Lyra answered, raising her hands. “Sounds like you’re the one in the middle of it. So you tell me, what’s going on?”
“A series of texts sent me to the wrong place. I suspect on purpose.”
“Care to elaborate?” Lyra asked.
“No.”
“Sounds like you’re being pranked, Grayson,” Gorb said. “People get pranked. Macro here pranks me all the time, don’t you little guy. And I love it.”
“Beep. Boop.”
“How long has Macro been here?” Lyra asked.
“He just got here,” Gorb said. “He must like conversations about being pranked.”
Lyra thought about it. “Hey, actually that happened to me this morning too. I got an emergency text telling me to come straight here and then there was no emergency.”
“And then she stole my coffee,” Gorb said. “See? Pranks.”
“Look,” said Grayson. “Something is going on, I can feel it. I need you to do what you do, Lyra. Check on your little robot here, and all of your weirdo friends and find out what’s going on and get back to me. Soon.” He stomped back through the door and disappeared.
“Why didn’t you tell him about the ghosts?” Nancy said when he was gone.
“Because I don’t know anything about the ghosts. I didn’t sleep with one, you did. And since you know so much about this, maybe you can fill me in?”
“I keep telling you, we just made out. All I know is that they showed up yesterday.”
“What happens next?” Lyra asked.
“No idea,” Nancy said. “Maybe everything’ll just be fine. The ghosts don’t usually send weird texts, though. They usually just sulk around and suck the juice out of unattended electronics.”
“Okay,” Lyra said, “hopefully it was just a weird morning. I mean, even if Nancy’s right, how much trouble can a few digital ghosts be?”
She turned to Ian and grinned. “What about you, Ian? Do you have any ideas for a fancy defense system that will protect us from ghosts?”
“It’s never come up. At least not in my research. I’m guessing that ghosts are not normal on Celestica.”
“No,” Lyra said, shaking her head. “Not normal.”
“Hey,” he said, “I had to check. I mean, it wasn’t that long ago that you had a mad scientist A.I. in here trying to kill everybody.”
“Touché,” Lyra said. “Although, to be fair, you’re the one who does the fear factory show. How is it that ghosts have never come up?”
“Fear Zone Universe,” he corrected. “And ghosts have come up, I’ve just never seen one. I guess I’ve been unlucky up until now. You’re right though, this new Celestica haunting thing, even if it’s a hoax, is going to send my ratings through the roof. Again. You’re still on for today, right? I told my audience that I’d introduce you in the next show and that’s today.” He looked at his watch. “Very soon, in fact.”
“Yes, yes, I’m in. I told you I’d be there, and I’ll be there. Well, have fun, honey, see you later,” she said and gave him a kiss.
Ian went off to prepare his show, and Lyra decided that now was as good a time as any to sneak off and draw the blood that Callista needed.
“Are you really going live on the show Fear Zone Universe?” Gorb asked her after Ian left.
“Yes, Gorb. Of course. Ian asked me to. Why, are you worried?”
“Yes,” he said, “that’s a scary show.”
“It’s just the internet, Gorb, I’m sure none of it’s real. Besides, Ian’s been doing the show all of this time and he’s fine, right?”
“That’s true,” he admitted.
“Just promise me that you won’t believe everything you see online, ok?”
He nodded. Or at least he floated up and down for her. “Got it, boss. You have fun. And when you get back, I want your autograph.”
Maura and Crash agreed on a meeting time at the location where she had fired her blaster. Despite making fun of her in Floyd’s office, ha had insisted on going back to his office to get additional weapons. It probably wasn’t a bad idea.
Maura decided to head back to her own office and double check everything herself.
When Maura got back to her office, she exchanged the weapons in her pocket for smaller ones. That way there would be less risk if she got all jumpy again. Had she just imagined the creature?
She sat heavily in her office chair to think. Either way, Floyd had been right. It was a good idea to go back and check on the Orcs and make sure they’re okay. Even if she had to go with Crash.
Satisfied that she had weapons that were appropriate to make her feel better, but not enough to blow holes in the space station when fired at gigantic imaginary ghost monsters with horns and glowing green eyes, she set out again.
It had to be all in her head. She chuckled at herself. She reviewed the food and drink she had consumed in the last twenty-four hours. Maybe she had eaten some weird fish or something. But no, nothing out of the ordinary. Who knows, maybe when all was said and done, she could just chalk this up to random weirdness.
That’s what she was thinking all the way up until the moment where she turned down the familiar hallway again to meet up with Crash.
Orcs were milling around everywhere. They were happy and drinking and dancing.
Crash arrived ahead of her. He was already in the middle of everything, as usual. He was doing more than his fair share of partying. She gave him a dirty look and held her hands up at him. “We’re supposed to be working.”
“I already checked it out, Maura. The orcs are fine.”
Maura pressed on. She was going to at least touch base with the person who phoned in the original report.
She was offered several different drinks and snacks as she made her way down the hallway toward the correct apartment. Maura couldn’t help but think that she lived on the wrong end of the space station.
She declined the drinks and nodded politely. “I’m on duty you see.” She tried to catch Crash’s eye to give him an additional judgmental look, but was unsuccessful. That’s just how her day was going.
She continued on toward number 246. The door was partially open. She knocked anyway. “Hello? I’m looking for Jane.”
An o
rc woman came to the door, and her eyes were wide. “You are Maura, Pest Control and ghost killer, right?”
Maura just blinked at her and tried to smile. “Yes, I am Maura. And I am Pest Control. I just came to ask you a few follow up questions.” She decided not to argue the subject of ghost killing.
“She’s here, everybody!” Jane yelled to the others in the room. “Maura the ghost killer!”
Maura frowned. Jane turned to her. “I knew I had called the right person. No, don’t do it, they all said. Call Crash. Crash, can you believe it? No way, I said.”
“I’m sorry,” Maura said, “what are you talking about?”
“Oh, we were all totally peeking when you came down here alone and single handedly took on the monster.” Jane said. Then she held out her phone and showed Maura a picture slideshow. The pictures very clearly showed a very real looking seven-foot creature with green glowing eyes and horns on his head.
“Hey, can you text those to me?” Maura asked. She was happy to have some sort of evidence to show Floyd, even if the evidence looked insane.
Unfortunately, Jane continued to cycle through pictures. Of Maura showing up. Of the creature charging. And of her unloading her weapon at it. Oy, Floyd was not going to be happy about that. She wondered how many images were floating around the internet of her going full Rambo in a residential hallway.
And then she saw something even more interesting. In a video, the monster charged right at Maura, which she remembered. Then it ran straight through her, which she didn’t.
“You said you saw the whole thing?” Maura asked.
Jane nodded.
“What happened to the creature after it charged me?” She was still worried about Crash’s theory that it had run off and was at this very moment wounded and attacking people on another part of Celestica. Although he seemed to not be as concerned about it at the moment since there was a community open bar.
“Oh no,” Jane said. “You got it. As soon as it went through you, it disappeared.”
“Disappeared?”
“Gone.” Jane said. “Guys, look, it’s Maura!”
Maura was instantly mobbed. She fought her way back to Jane and this time whispered. “But I didn’t kill it, you saw the whole thing. It simply disappeared.”
Digital Ghosts: Book 2 of the Space Station At The Edge Of The Black Hole Series Page 3
