by J. Naomi Ay
Sara repeated this mantra over and over as she ran away, but the things, whatever they were, caught up. They were all slimey and sticky with heads like giant squids.
“Mine,” one said, as he swallowed Sara whole.
Trudy thought she had been walking down a normal service corridor. Granted the light was an odd color, and she was surrounded by weird smells. As far as she could tell, that was from the plumbing pipes overhead which trickled with water and occasionally dripped.
When the spacebase started rocking and then, seemed to have flipped end over end, Trudy hung on to a railing next to the wall. After everything had settled down and Trudy could stand again, she noticed a man watching her from down the hall. If she didn't know any better, Trudy would have sworn the man was her step-dad, who Trudy knew was still in prison back on Rehnor.
"Isn't she the most beautiful little girl you ever saw?" This was her mom's voice echoing off the walls, although Trudy couldn’t see her anywhere.
Trudy hadn't spoken to her mom in a number of years, not since she testified against her mother's husband in a court of law. Up until now, Trudy didn't think she missed her. In fact, for years, Trudy thought she didn't care, yet the sound of her mother's voice filled her with a sudden longing.
"Trudy, Trudy, you're a beauty," her step-father called, in that way he had. "Come here, Trudy, my little angel. Come play with me. Trudy, you and me are going to have some fun, but promise not to tell your mommy about it."
Trudy covered her ears and closed her eyes to block the world that was shimmering with evil sounds and silver light. She still felt it. She still heard it. Everything crossed her brain like a lightning bolt. Her step-father's voice was a jolt of electricity trickling down her spine. A spike shot through her arms and legs to the tips of her fingers and the ends of her toes. The pain shocked Trudy's heart, which stopped beating in her chest, as it fell upon the floor along with her soul.
"Don't run away from me," her step-father kept on saying. "I love you, Trudy. You're my very best little girl."
"No!" Trudy wanted to scream. "No, just leave me alone!"
But, Trudy didn't scream. She didn't say a word. Trudy kept silent in her bed and let him do whatever he wanted.
Trudy wished that she was ugly. Her beauty was her curse. Beauty meant desire and desire hurt. So, Trudy became an ugly girl. She flattened her auburn curls and colored them dull. She added gel to make her hair limp and wore enormous glasses to hide her eyes. She dressed in baggy clothes that covered her figure.
No one would want a girl like that, which was fine, because Trudy preferred to be alone, until now, for things had changed. Trudy had thought her heart was dead. Then, Rent Golden arrived, and unknowingly, picked up the all pieces from the floor. Unfortunately, Rent Golden wasn't who he said he was, which complicated matters beyond repair.
“I'm just going to have to go back and reboot my life,” Trudy muttered as she wandered her way through the dark. “I'm going to bury all the ghosts from the past and Rent is going to be one of them.”
As Trudy convinced herself that a life alone was what she deserved, she never noticed the squid-like creature that approached from behind. In fact, Trudy hadn't a clue what had happened even when she was in the creature's stomach being digested. It was nice and warm in there, as comforting as a feather bed except for the sticky, smelly goo that stuck to her skin.
Meanwhile, in a corridor not far away, Rent was staring at a cardboard box perched at the end of the hall. Rent hated cardboard boxes. His fear of them trumped anything else, except for maybe, his fear of his father, who was a close second.
The only way out as far as Rent could tell, was down this path as he had come from the other direction. This meant he'd encounter the box, which was larger than a refrigerator and sealed on three sides. This was just like Rent's nightmare, his oft recurring dream, which had plagued him throughout his childhood, and beyond.
Inexplicably, in this dream, Rent would find himself stuffed in a cardboard box, and if he climbed out, it was only to end up in another. In fact, he was stuck in a tunnel of boxes that got progressively smaller and smaller as he crawled. The last one was so tiny, Rent could barely breathe. He couldn’t turn around. He was enclosed as if in a coffin. When Rent had this dream at night, he would wake up screaming.
"Go take a Xanax," his ex-wife, Alyssa would say. "Or, go talk to a shrink. I'm sure there's a twenty-four hour crisis line you can call."
Rent never did either, and now he stood completely prone.
"It's just a box," he said aloud, his voice echoing off the spacebase walls. "I can probably move it out of the way. I can knock it down or stomp on it with my feet. Maybe, I could even rip it to shreds with my hands."
However, Rent did none of that as his cardboard box phobias ran far too deep. Unbeknownst to him, or anybody else, they emanated from a true event. Only minutes after his birth, Rent was torn from his mother's side and placed in a cardboard box marked, UPS. It was sealed and dropped at a store whereupon Rent was shipped red label, overnight, early morning express delivery. The next day at an orphanage, on the other side of the planet, Rent was unpacked, and his diaper changed.
Rent told himself, "I have nothing to fear. It's only paper that's stiff and dyed a medium brown. I can do this. I'm an adult. Heck, I'm even a prince. I want to get back to my family. I want to find Trudy, and I want to go on vacation to the house in Takira-hahr. I want to see everything that I missed because I was hidden away. I'm not going to be lost again, and I'm not going to be stuck in a box. I'm going to do this. I'm going to chase this fear away." Resolutely, Rent confronted the box. "Go away!" he yelled, and hit it with his fist. The box collapsed, allowing him to pass.
Unfortunately, on the other side there was yet more halls. Rent couldn't see or hear anyone he knew. There was an odd mumbling noise up ahead and some dim lights that were flickering against the wall, as well as a smell which was sulfurous and mildly toxic.
"Aw, shit!" Steve swore when the room stopped shaking. "Kari-fa, Dad! Whatever you're doing, give it a rest!"
Steve was standing in a corridor, smoking a cigarette, while studying the queue of people up ahead. He had no idea why they were all lined up, or where they were going.
All he knew was he didn’t want to wait with them. Steve tossed his cig aside and lit up another, his thoughts briefly settling upon on Sara. He wondered where she might have gone. Before the quake, she'd been right next to him.
Perhaps, she was up ahead, waiting in line. Steve decided to finish this cig, and then go look for his little chick. He wasn't worried. No, he never worried about Sara. She was very resilient, that little dudette. In fact, she was just like his mom in a lot of ways. If anybody could take care of herself, Sara would be the one to do it.
On the other hand, she was barely twelve years old.
It was a good thing, Sara was so strong, Steve considered, while grinding out his cig on the cement floor. He'd hate to have to be needed. Steve didn't like to be depended on by anyone.
Actually, that was the problem with all of his relationships. Steve didn't know what commitment was, and regardless, he couldn't do it. Being faithful was like wearing a high-collared, button down shirt. As soon as he put it on, he began to choke as if that button was stabbing him in the neck. His ex-wife, Hannah was just like that, except she stabbed him in other places, too. Yet, he had loved her at first, and maybe even loved her a little now.
Steve supposed he ought to blame his parents for his shortcomings. After all, they both abandoned him when he was nine. Granted the situation was extraordinary, but still, he was just a kid. If he had been raised in a stable, loving environment, he might be normal. Hannah had said that was no excuse. Steve was an adult and conscious of his choices. If he chose to screw around, and forget the meaning of a vow, then, he'd have to suffer the consequences all by himself. At the time, Steve had thought Hannah was being a bitch. She didn't understand the pressures of being an Imperial Prince.
&n
bsp; "I mean, come on!" He used to tell her. "You have no idea what it's like having Senya for your dad."
"No, I don't." Hannah had replied. "And, I'm not sure you do either. As bad as he is, he's always been faithful to your mom."
Hannah had walked out shortly after that. Not that he blamed her or anything, but that's when his death spiral of drinking and other habits really kicked into gear.
Steve lit a new cig and glanced down at the queue, which somehow didn't look any shorter than before. He leaned to the side, hoping to spy Sara, but all he saw was a mass of dark bodies, shadowed in the dim light of a door up ahead.
Sometimes, Steve used to wish that he was more like his dad. It sure would be nice if he could read some peoples' minds. It was too hard to guess what women were thinking, as they never said what they really meant. Even with Sara, Steve felt like he was always playing a game of twenty questions.
Inexplicably, Steve began to feel incredibly protective. The idea of some dude dating his daughter, or making her cry, caused his heart to roll over in his chest. These were new emotions for Steve, and they took him by surprise. In fact, the more he thought on them, the stronger they grew.
For some unknown reasons, Steve became alarmed. Something had happened to Sara. She was hurt and needed her dad.
“Get out of the way!” Steve ran down the hall, which caused the crowds to instantly disappear. “Sara!” he yelled. “Sara, where are you?”
After the spacebase had rocked and rolled, Joanne found herself in a back hall. She wasn't certain how she came to be there or how to get back to where she had been. All she knew was that it pissed her off and made her seething mad, as if she needed another reason to be perturbed.
“Steve?” She yelled at the top of her lungs. “Are you in here? I'm over this way! Hey Steve! Sara? Rent? Is anybody around besides me?”
Unfortunately, only Joanne's voice echoed off the walls. Gathering her courage and clutching her sweater, Joanne started to walk in the only direction where there was some light. Presently, she began to hear some odd noises in an alien language and the smell became so overwhelming, she almost choked.
“Steve?” Joanne called softly, which was absolutely the wrong thing to do.
Two Rogarian Conduit Dwellers were lying on their backs enjoying the pleasant feeling of digesting their dinner. One had consumed the girl, while the other, the older woman. A third was sitting around waiting for something else to come along. Upon hearing Joanne's voice and catching her scent, he immediately pointed his finger and shouted, “Snark-a-foo.” In Rogarian, that meant something like, “Ha, that's a meaty one I see over there. You guys got the little ones while I ended up with a bonanza.”
Bolting to his feet, the Rogarian slipped across the floor, heading for Joanne who was still standing unaware. A moment later, he was right before her, his huge mouth open to swallow her whole, his single giant eye lighting up the hallway.
Before Joanne could do anything but gasp, a man grabbed her about the waist and pulled her into the shadows. He put his hand over her mouth and held her tightly in his arms so she couldn't possibly make a move, until the monster passed.
“What the hell?” Joanne hissed, as soon as he let her go.
“Shut up, Joanne,” Steve snapped, “Or, he'll come back. Have you seen Sara around here?”
“Oh Steve!” Joanne turned and flung herself in his arms, which, if he hadn't been so worried, he might have liked. “No, I haven't seen her or anyone.”
“Kari-fa! I hope one of those dudes didn't get her.”
Hugging the side of the hallway, Steve silently crept down the hall in the direction from which the Rogarian Conduit Dweller had come. Joanne stayed glued to his back, clutching his hand so as not to lose him in the dark, until they came upon an open passage leading into a room.
Rent was waiting in the shadows when his brother arrived. He had spied the Rogarians lying on the floor with their bellies full. Although Rent had never met a Rogarian personally, he had heard about them when he was working at the Spaceway Inn Motel, as in addition to conduits, the creatures liked to live in hotel cellars.
“Steve,” Rent hissed and pointed at the creatures. “I think that's where Sara and Trudy have gone.”
“Kari-fa!” Steve swore again ready to attack the aliens with his bare hands.
“Calm down,” Joanne snapped, pulling him back into the shadows. “Is there any chance the girls are still alive?”
“I think so,” Rent replied. “The digesting process lasts for several days, and probably, they haven't been there longer than twenty minutes.”
“How are we supposed to get them out?” Joanne whispered.
“I'm going to rip their heads off and pull my daughter out through the dude's throat,” Steve replied.
“You can't,” Rent instructed. “They have about four hundred needle-like teeth and a toxic tongue. I'm trying to remember how you're supposed to rescue someone the proper way.”
“Remember?” Steve snapped, grabbing his brother's arm. “What do you mean? Did you have to learn it for a merit badge?”
“Actually, yes.” Rent shook his brother off. “They're like lice, a giant kind of Anoplura. I think the best way to kill them is with heat.”
“Well, no problem, then,” Steve hissed. “I've got a lighter, as well as half a pack of cigs. I'll just go offer them a smoke and stick it up their butts.”
“Stop it,” Joanne cried. “Between the three of us, we ought to think of something we can do. Maybe we can use Steve's lighter and set that room on fire.”
Rent quickly glanced around the room one more time, noting how the two Rogarians were chatting and holding their bellies.
“I don't see anything flammable,” Rent replied.
It was then that the third Rogarian returned, surprising all three people by the size of his enormous jaw. While Joanne screamed, Steve responded in the only way he could. He punched the dude on the side of his face and then, knocked him back with both a front and sideways kick, as during his SpaceNavy days, Steve had been a black belt in mixed martial arts.
Even though, he was out of practice, he was still very strong and in good shape. Unfortunately, Steve wasn't anywhere near the alien's size. While the Rogarian had been planning to eat Rent, Steve's kicking changed his mind, so he turned around quickly, and went for the older brother instead.
“Your lighter,” Rent called, as the Rogarian grabbed his brother around the neck, attempting to squeeze the life force from his body. Steve was able to reach into his pocket and toss the lighter to Rent, who immediately set the Rogarian's hand on fire.
Since the Rogarian was comprised of a gelatinous substance, which was as flammable as paper mixed with kerosene, he immediately went up in smoke, allowing Steve to escape. Now all they had to do was kill the other two.
“We've got to heat them,” Rent instructed, “Without burning them up, so we can't just set them on fire, like we did to him, otherwise we'll kill the girls inside.”
“God, it smells awful in here,” Joanne gasped. “It's worse now than when he was alive.”
“Imagine how bad it must smell inside their bodies,” Steve snapped. “Come on, Rent, think of how we're going to do this.” Steve knelt in the shadows of the doorway and watched the two Rogarians laugh.
“Nooka nikka nakka noo,” one said which meant something like, “I'm thinking of some sort of pie for dessert.”
“Okay,” replied the other which meant something like, “Fine, I'm good with that.”
“What would your father do?” Joanne demanded, “Were he here?”
“He'd just will them to heat up until they melted,” Steve replied. “Unfortunately, neither Rent nor I have that kind of power.”
“Maybe we do?” Rent suggested. “I mean, have you ever tried just concentrating really hard?”
“I don't know about you, bro, but I'm just a normal, ordinary, mortal guy.”
“Try it,” Joanne prodded. “What have you got to lose?”
“I'll take the one on the left,” Rent pointed, “You take the right. Just imagine them melting into a puddle. Focus your attention on that and nothing else. Ready Steve? Alright, let's do it.”
Steve rolled his eyes for half a second and then decided, his options were few, so he stared at the Rogarian creep with Sara inside his belly.
“Melt,” Steve whispered under his breath. “Die, but leave my daughter completely whole.”
Sara felt like she had taken a nap in a warm feather bed that was sticky with some kind of goo. It also smelled incredibly bad, reminding her of a planet with a volcano. However, that wasn't the worst of it. When she awoke upon the floor, covered in all this sticky, icky stuffy, her brand new underwear was completely soaked through, and the remaining cotton balls were stuck to her skin.
“Steve,” Sara whined. “I need a bath.”
Chapter 19
Monrat Morfel had somehow ended up in the center of the spacebase next to a giant reservoir of water. One moment, he was in the casino, standing at the roulette wheel betting on number thirty-three and reds. The next moment, he was here on a cement floor, his head aching, and having no clue where exactly he had landed.
Monrat swore. As Andorian wasn't a very descriptive language, his list of profanities was somewhat short. However, it did the trick to express his displeasure at having lost a fairly large stack of chips, and the free drinks, of which, he had only received two.
In addition, Monrat had acquired a fairly large bump on his head from where it hit the floor when he crashed down. This bump was about the size of Monrat's fist, and although he couldn’t see it, it was a deep and vibrant shade of blue. It was also pulsing, a rhythmic beat at the same tempo as one of his hearts.
