Sinister Shadows

by Simon Smith-Wilson

  ‘FUCK YOU!’ Ryan roared loudly, as he fell through the open doorway. Internal organs were dangling out of gruesome cuts across his abdomen, and his left arm had been removed from the elbow. Blood flowed like a river from the edge of his mouth. Half of his scalp had been removed to expose the white of his skull. He lifted the handgun in his right hand. Sheridan could see that it took everything he had just to stay standing. Ryan fired three times, removing the jaw and left eye of the monster standing over Sheridan.

  ‘You look fucking awful,’ laughed Sheridan’s father, but Ryan wasn’t aware the man was there.

  ‘Ryan...’ Sheridan gasped, looking at her friend.

  He stepped forward like a drunk after a night out. A single gunshot blew away the chain that was bolted to the table above her head. A second shot removed the chain at the base of the table. Ryan handed her the weapon, smiled that sweet, caring smile and collapsed down onto the floor. Sheridan hopped from the table, the chains still hanging from her limbs like oversized jewellery.

  ‘Ryan?’ She rolled him onto his back, but Ryan was gone.

  He had breathed his final breath.

  ‘No...’ she sobbed, hugging his head. ‘No.’

  ***

  The train continued its cross-country journey through the tour of strange towns of unique designs. Dr Jones sat opposite Dr Emerson, separated by a duffel bag of weapons, explosives and a colourful mini-gun connected to a tripod. Dr Jones replayed the previous conversation over and over again in his head. Was he really as bad as the murderers if he stood back and did nothing? Is inaction as bad as an evil person’s action? Or was detaching one’s self from a disgusting event the true path of a man of peace? If that man of peace could stop the death of innocent people and did nothing, does that make him evil too? Dr Jones knew the answer deep down within the core of his being. Murder was wrong. He believed this with all his heart, but doing nothing was also wrong. The question was, which path could he live with? At the end of the day, he was the one that went to bed with his own mind. He was the one that had to be comfortable with the decision he made. Murder a few to protect the many, or sit back and watch the many die when he lives on?

  ‘When will we be there?’ he asked the alien in control of his friend.

  ‘Soon, but I cannot stay in control of Dr Emerson too much longer.’

  ‘What will happen to her if you don’t leave her body?’

  ‘I will destroy her mind.’

  ‘Why don’t you leave her now? I will finish this for you.’

  Emerson smiled. ‘I only have one chance at stopping the destruction of the universe. This is not a task I will leave in the hands of others. Dr Emerson is aware of what will happen if they leave this world. She is willing to put her life on the line to protect all life.’

  ‘Are these people really that bad?’

  ‘Yes,’ she replied, flatly. ‘They are currently quarantined on this world. If we allow them to leave they will infect every world in every galaxy. The ones they don’t control they will kill. There will be a war without end. Freewill will be abolished. It will be the apocalypse on a million worlds. We can stop it all. All we have to do is kill two men.’

  ‘And that will end it all?’

  ‘Yes. Shiva and the others are creating a sanctuary for your people.’ Dr Jones had found mention of the Shiva in the alien city. She lived in the Temple of Mirrors. ‘We couldn’t stop them from killing our followers once before, but we will not allow them to bring chaos to the universe. You have fifteen minutes to decide if you are capable of taking the lives of two people. It is them, or it is the death of the universe.’

  Dr Jones pinched the ridge of his nose.

  He had the choice of murder or chaos?

  What type of choice was that?

  Could he simply step back and not choose.

  What was the right route to take?

  ***

  It was every science fiction fan’s wet dream. Andy’s eyes looked up at the undercarriage of the alien space crafts, as the motorbike cut between the deep space vessels. A large majority of them were half-buried beneath sand dunes, but many stood like technological masterpieces. There were ships that looked almost animal like in design. One was stood vertically like a block of flats but had folded wings of see-through material pressed against the side like sails of a ship that had been temporarily lowered. There were ships that looked almost human like with the twin engines, clunky design and rotating gravity chambers. Many of the ships stood on powerful legs, but one of two hovered on the spot as they had done for thousands of years. Andy could see ships that looked like pyramids and something that looked like a sparkling black cloud that constantly reshaped itself. There was something that looked like a five hundred foot jellyfish and another ship that looked like a replica of Saturn with several spinning discs around it. He tried to process what he was seeing, but Chris was pushing the motorbike at full throttle. By the time he had started to digest one thing, he had just seen another alien ship had come into view.

  And then he saw Jesus.

  He was stood in the doorway of an alien ship. A ramp had been lowered for them to enter the spacecraft. The ship had a white hull, stained brown by the poor weather condition of the alien world. The bubble-like design looked like a cloud that had decided to touch down on the ground. Eight powerful metallic legs held the beast of a craft up. Soft, lazy purple lights shone from all around the ship, casting the graveyard in a hazy glow of lavender. Chris skidded to the stop at the base of the ramp. Jesus greeted them both with open arms and an eye consuming smile.

  ***

  The man in the mirror looked nervous. Matthews didn’t like the face his reflection was making. It didn’t match the strong mental image he held of himself. He always like to think he was decisive, brave and driven to do a good job, but this other man was pale, tired and frightened. ‘So, let me get this straight.’ He looked towards Shiva and felt his heart miss a beat. ‘I cannot control anyone that is already infected by another of your people.’ The beautiful goddess nodded with a pleasing smile. ‘I cannot just step into the mind of the man that wants to kill everyone and shoot myself in the head?’

  ‘No. Once they have been infected by another, they are invisible to us.’

  ‘Right...’ he looked back at the mirror. Once again the majority of the mirrors in the room were cast in shadows. Only a small handful was illuminated in the glow of white light, but which one should he choose? Should he return to the man that he controller earlier? The guy was close to the killer, which meant he had ample opportunity to stab him in the back. An alternative was to step into the other mirrors and see if there was a better route to execute this plan. ‘If they kill me, what happens?’

  ‘You will return to this room.’

  ‘So, I won’t die.’

  ‘No. You won’t die.’

  Suddenly, the lights above two of the mirrors blinked out.

  ‘What just happened?’ asked Matthews.

  A third mirror faded into darkness.

  Shiva frowned deeply and took a step back from the centre of the room. ‘Three people have either died or have been infected by another.’ The incredible woman of unimaginable beauty looked down at the floor in the centre of the room. ‘Show me!’ She instructed in a commanding voice full of power. Matthews looked down at the circular design in the middle of the mirror room. Bright blinding light poured through the cracks in the concrete slabs, as the floor appeared to drop away. It was replaced by a pool of shimmering light. ‘Let us see what is happening to your people now.’

  ***

  Naked and frightened Sheridan sprinted down the cold corridor. Footsteps echoed through the shadows, as she searched for a way out of the maze of tunnels, but where could she possibly go without her spacesuit? She wouldn’t last two minutes on the surface of the planet. It felt like she was running around in circles. ‘Boo!’ Her father jumped out of the shadows, laughing like an immature child. Sheridan skipped by him and continued running
. ‘That isn’t the right way,’ he called after her. ‘That is actually the worst possible direction for you to go in.’ Sheridan ignored him, forcing away the fact that the words were spoken in her father’s voice. This man wasn’t her father. Her father was gone. Her father would be telling her to keep running and to never give up. ‘Boo!’ He was awaiting her around the corner, laughing like a drunken fool. Sheridan turned back and went a different way. Her feet carried her as fast as they could manage, as she turned down one corridor and then the next, but they all looked the same. After a minute she sprinted out into a tall chamber. The room itself wasn’t overly large, about the size of a normal family’s living room, but it went up about fifty feet until you hit the ceiling. ‘I told you not to come this way,’ said the bastard camouflaged in her father’s body. In the centre of the room was a creature that looked like a snake, but it was big. The snake was coiled up as tight as it could be, but as soon as Sheridan came into the room, it began to unravel. And now she realised what creature had constructed the perfectly shaped circular tunnels. The snake from belly to back was about seven foot tall but had to be at least one hundred feet long. Shining green eyes looked down at her, as the snake sniffed at the air in front of Sheridan. Sheridan understood where the pile of bones in the Coliseum had come from. They were the remains of this guy’s dinner.

  Sheridan reacted by doing what she thought was best.

  The naked peace officer raised her gun and fired.

  The bullet made a pinprick of the hole in the side of the snake’s body.

  Sheridan squeezed off four rounds by the time the monstrous snake stretched open its mouth and swallowed her whole. The last two sounds Sheridan heard were the breaking of her own bones in the darkness of the beast’s throat and the mocking laughter from the mouth of her father.

  ***

  ‘This can’t be happening,’ muttered Matthews, as he looked down at the floor of rippling light. A picture perfect image of underground tunnels was shimmering between his feet. The snake monster that had just consumed Sheridan shuffled off into the shadows. ‘They killed Sheridan. What happened to Ryan?’ Shiva waved her hands through the air, and the image in the pool of light showed the mutilated remains of Peace Officer Ryan crumbled up on the floor next to the torture table. Matthews gritted his teeth and forced back the tears. He had worked with both those kids for almost a year now. They were good kids. That was the only way he could sum them up. They were good. ‘How could this happen to them? They were looking for evidence about Omar.’

  ‘They were tricked by someone like me,’ replied Shiva.

  ‘Bastards...’

  ‘The one that did this will only go on to hurt more of your people if we don’t stop them.’

  ‘Was Omar part of this?’

  Shiva closed her eyes and thought about it for a second, ‘No.’ Once again she waved her hands in the air, and Omar’s face appeared in the shimmering light. ‘Omar is already dead.’ Matthews looked stunned, as he looked down at the pain etched into the marine’s dead face. Omar was wearing a crown of thorns, as he was spread out and nailed to a wooden crucifix.

  ‘Who did this to him?’

  ‘The one we are trying to stop. He is a being that has been to your planet many millennia ago. He has power over your people without having to say a word. You call this man Jesus.’

  ‘Jesus...? You mean Jesus Christ?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘God did this to Omar.’

  ‘No. He is no God. He is just a being like me who has convinced your people that he is a God. He is a being of violence and hate. He portrays peace and love, but all he wants is war and power. He is the man we have to stop. He is the man that is killing every single one of your people that he cannot infect.’ Shiva waved her hands, and a new image appeared at their feet. It was the image of two young men walking through a white wall corridor of an alien spacecraft. ‘These men are on their way to help him escape.’

  ‘Then I will stop them.’

  ‘It is too late for that now. They are both infected, but...’ Shiva thought about it for a long moment. ‘One of the ancient guardians is nearby. I can feel him moving quickly across the planet’s surface. He is travelling with another human. We must trust that they can stop Jesus from leaving the planet. We can only focus on the good we can do now.’

  ‘The people at the other base,’ said Matthews, turning his attention to the mirror.

  ‘Yes. We must save who we can,’ Shiva clicked her fingers and just like that the pool of light disappeared.

  ***

  ‘This is incredible,’ muttered Dr Jones, stepping up to the very edge of the cliff face. There was a certain sparkle in his eyes, as he looked down at the sea of alien space craft’s sat in the valley below. The unknown vessels from a thousand worlds disappeared off as far as the eye could see. Many of them were fighting for survival as the sand dunes attempted to consume their location, but hundreds of thousands of lights shone from the various craft, highlighting every single potential discovery. This place was the key to the universe. The ship's computers would hold the information to their home world. Dr Jones would be able to locate where each and every ship came from in the universe. The question, did life exist on other planets had always fascinated him, but now he knew the answer. Life was everywhere, and he knew just how to find them.

  ‘Once we have completed the tasks all those ships down there will belong to you,’ said Emerson.

  Dr Jones looked back at his friend. She was currently dragging the alien mini-gun out of the hover train. The duffle bag of weapons was already sprawled out. Dr Jones looked at the deadly weapon and then turned his attention back towards the shipyard.

  ‘All the people that came on those ships are now dead,’ explained Dr Emerson. ‘They travelled across the galaxy to come here for peace and knowledge. It took thousands of years for some of them to reach us. Not many beings have the deep sleep chambers that humans use. They had to live their lives on those ships. They had to raise their families on those ships. Generations of their people never knew a home world or what it was like to swim in an ocean, walk through a forest on a summer’s day or camp out under the stars. They sacrificed so much for knowledge. All of it was taken away by the being down there. The person we are here to stop is down there preparing to leave this world. If they make it into space, then they will bring death to a billion worlds. Do not allow this monster to harm more innocent people, Dr Jones.’

  ***

  Jesus stood by the see-through wall at the front of the command room, his hands clasped behind his back, as he gently rocked on his toes. Chris was busy setting to work, as he followed the instructions of their Lord, activating the ship's engines and preparing for takeoff. ‘Once we reach orbit it will only take us a matter of hours until we reach Earth,’ said Jesus, without looking back at the two brothers. Andy could feel vibrations beneath his feet, as the ship's powerful engines came to life. Chris flashed his brother an eye consuming smile, as he stepped by him and typed something into the control panel behind him. The design of the ship was very similar to a human space shuttle, but the buttons and computer readouts were all in a strange alien language that neither of the young men could understand. ‘There is one final job we must attend to.’

  ‘What is that, Lord?’ Chris asked, approaching the main flight chair.

  ‘We must destroy this planet from orbit.’

  ‘What?’ Andy gasped.

  Chris shot his brother an aggressive glare in an attempt to shut him up.

  ‘The people here are infected by evil spirits. If they are allowed to escape then the whole universe will face destruction. We must kill them all, whilst we have them trapped below us.’

  ‘Yes, Lord. We will rid the universe of all evil,’ replied Chris.

  ‘No...’ Sadness and pain filled Andy’s heart, as he looked at the back of his God. ‘Why do you keep hurting people?’

  ***

  ‘Have you heard anything from the search party?
’ asked Kimberly, crooking her neck to check on her son. He was sat behind her at the coffee table eating his lunch. He must have been starving as he had already eaten his dinner and was still going.

  ‘No,’ replied Melanie, her voice came through the console speakers. ‘I just don’t understand how he is back. How did he even get through the perimeter fences?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Where is his father?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ replied Kimberly, her heart sinking lower.

  ‘None of this makes sense. I will try to contact the search party again. Try to find out what happened from your son.’

  ‘I will do,’ replied Kimberly, switching off the communication channel. The beautiful young woman turned to face her son, unconsciously looking him up and down. He was unhurt, he wasn’t frightened, but he hadn’t said anything about what happened to him on the planet’s surface. Kimberly knelt down on the floor on the opposite side of the table and fingered the chips on her plate. ‘Christopher, where is your daddy?’ The boy looked nervously around the room as if searching for something or someone. He signalled for his mother to come in closer.

  ‘He said I am not allowed to tell you,’ whispered Christopher.

  ‘Who said that you cannot tell me?’

  Christopher sat back and took a bite out of his burger. Kimberly couldn’t see a hint of fear in her son’s eyes, but she could see that he was not going to tell her anything more. Her thoughts drifted to all the things that Gabriel had told her. Gabriel was nothing more than an infection. He was an artificial intelligence in virus form. Did that mean her son was infected by another of Gabriel’s kind? Kimberly looked towards the wooden box of syringes she had taken from Gabriel’s laboratory. Was that the answer? Could the drug, in that case, cure her son of this infection? Did she take the risk of injecting some unknown alien drug into her son’s little system? Kimberly grabbed a handful of her hair and growled through clenched teeth. What was the best thing to do? Why had everything become so complicated?