In desperation, Jose grabbed her arm as she began to walk away with Cobby. “No, Abby. Now.”
Before anyone could take a breath, Cobby shot to Abby’s side to grip Jose’s arm, his bloodless knuckles and flashing eyes attesting his anger. “I think she said . . . some other time.”
Jose jerked his arm free and in a blink had Cobby in a headlock. A furniture-splintering free-for-all ensued. When all the feathers had settled and screaming had stopped, Jose was left with a broken wing, entire handfuls of feathers yanked out of his limb. Cobby had blood seeping from an ear and Hud stood between the two men.
“If you two can’t stow your testosterone, we’ll need to make new arrangements. Now cut the shit.” His eyes bore into Jose. “Do you get my drift?”
Jose’s face steamed. He took deep gulping breaths of air, trying to get himself under control.
Hud turned and continued. “You okay, Cobby?”
“Sure, I think we’ve had enough.” Abby clung to his side, a cloth tossed from Dezi cleaning up the dribbling blood.
From the corner of his eye, Jose watched Cobby throw an arm around her shoulder and slip a kiss on her forehead. “Thanks, babe. I’ll be alright.”
That was the final straw for Jose. He lunged at Cobby, his lion-like tail snapping in the air. Cobby went down hard with Jose on top of him, Abby screaming. “Jose. No!”
Hud and Wil pulled Jose off Cobby but not before they all realized Cobby had hit his head on the hard floor; Jose’s entire weight, wings and all, adding to the force. He was out cold.
Back in his solitary room, Jose scrunched his eyes closed and rubbed his forehead with both hands. He hadn’t meant to hurt Cobby so badly. He just couldn’t help himself. Who the hell was Cobby to be so possessive with Abby? She was his! He cringed when he remembered the faces of Kane and Kenya, Bonnie and Chloe. He hadn’t been able to look Chloe in the eye after getting a peek at her tear-stained face. He knew the tears were for him while everyone’s anger screamed for him to be banished. Before anyone could do anything, he turned on his heel and limped back to his hole-in-the-wall, but not before he got a clear look at Netty’s cold expression and the disappointment in the lowering of Echo’s golden furry head. That means it’s already all over the Womb, including Forbation.
He flopped down on his bed, the stress of the day exhausting him as he watched the walls vibrate with movement, faintly expanding as the Womb breathed. It was becoming nauseating.
Feeling a lump in his bed, he reached under the mattress to feel the Beretta he had secreted. He didn’t know what he planned to do with it but just having it there made him feel more like a man. With that thought in his head, he settled down and fell fast asleep. The long complex of niches and corridors cooled outside his meager room, silent as always, not even the soft flutter of minion wings to disturb the night.
Chapter 12
Jose rose hurriedly, having overslept. He flapped his left wing gently; six inches of missing feathers and another hole further down made him look like something that would make even an earthly peacock hang its head in shame.
The minute he stepped outside his room, he knew something was different. No Forbation. The usual fawning minions fluttered above, taking a break from their usual duties to simper over their catching a glimpse of him. But instead of the Elder minion of the Womb waiting to castigate him and force him to grovel, there stood a miniature minion that stood only two feet tall, and she was rocking back and forth on her feet in excitement. Jose’s mind accepted the minion’s aura.
“Hello, Brother Jose. I am Sister Doodiet. Brother Forbation sent me to take you to your permanent work assignment. I will be in charge of you. We must hurry, hurry. The day is getting away from us.”
“You’re a female and Forbation put you in charge of me?”
The little minion’s aura darkened. “You speak with disrespect, Brother. I am disappointed to begin our long relationship with such behavior. I will make a note of your disposition and hope that it will improve as we begin your duties.” Doodiet took to the air. “Come, we are late as it is.”
Doodiet joined the flock of minions overhead, each one’s flight a syncopation of pathways in the air. Jose quickly shook out his wings to fly but realized walking would need to be his mode of travel until his plumage grew back. Further humiliated, he kept an eye out for Doodiet and followed her from below.
As he reached the main artery that ran through the Womb, he squinted his eyes against the Oolahan sun that streamed down to him from dizzying heights. When he looked up to locate Doodiet, he was overcome with vertigo and made faint by the layers and layers of minions that flew above him; golden wings fluttering, tails flying and crystal antlers flashing their black and red deadly emissions. It made for a stupendously blinding sight as the sunlight lit up the massive cathedral that was the ceiling.
Soon, his trek led him to an enormous metal plate sheltered in an alcove. A steady stream of minions collected at the base of the plate. Some pushed carts laden with parcels that were stacked with trays of weirdly fragrant organic material, rocks and a wild variety of mysterious objects for which Jose had no name; the silence was broken only by the wheels that carried their burdens.
Doodiet landed deftly before him, folding her delicate wings close to her body, not a strand of fur out of place. “We stop here. The plate will soon open. We must be in line.”
As they joined the melee near the plate, Jose asked, “What’s the big deal? Why is everyone waiting?”
Doodiet responded, her aura sharp and clear. “This will be your first lesson, Brother Jose. Behind this safety plate is the entrance to the most dangerous place on this planet. We are charged with the honor of caring for the wide variety of species as they are brought from the portals linking our worlds. We must study their behavior before actual work can be done on them.”
Jose’s mouth was agape. “What kind of work is done on them?”
“That is none of your concern, Brother. It will be up to us to monitor their behavior and make sure they are fed and kept comfortable and clean. When we have ascertained their level of danger, they will be put into rotation for study.”
“Holy shit!”
Doodiet stood and stared blankly at Jose. Her aura finally sent him questioning fingers, which he ignored in his burgeoning anger.
“This is an effing zoo. And you’re trying to tell me I’m just going to be a janitor for the inmates?”
Doodiet bristled. “You are sadly mistaken if you think you can take this assignment lightly, Brother Jose. If I were you, I would work very hard. Just like the rest of us. And if you are lucky, maybe Brother Forbation will forgive you for your demonstration of violence. I’ll tell you a little secret, it is only due to the fact that you are a human, our very descendant, that has saved you from expulsion from our planet. Violence, when detected in any of our charges, is bred out of the species. That’s part of why they are here. We will reintegrate the altered member back into the population of his planet and return with another member to alter. Over the multitude of generations, we have found the altered or non-violent members have an easier time of breeding, increasing the odds that someday in the far-off future, most violence will be vanquished from the planet.”
“You must be kidding me.”
“I assure you, Brother, I am not. Come, now.” Doodiet moved forward with the crowd. An unexpected surge found all minions jockeying for position. “Hurry, Brother. The lock will not stay open for long. We have only a few moments to get through before it closes. There is no telling when it will open again.”
“Well, that certainly sounds like a screwball system if ever I heard one.”
Doodiet kept walking but her head twisted around to face Jose. “Please, Brother. There are necessary reasons for everything on Oolahan. Perhaps it would be best if you just listened until you learn your duties.”
With those words, Jose crossed into his new working area he had dubbed “The Zoo”.
It wasn’t long bef
ore even the muttering stopped as Sister Doodiet escorted him around the most exemplary, mind-blowing and unending collection of never-before-seen life from all corners of the cosmos. He observed creatures of every size, shape, and color. Organic and inorganic. Most of the life forms were kept in a sealed room of safety glass with airlocks for ease in feeding and taking of cell samples.
“Sister Daisy was very useful when she was here,” Doodiet’s aura seemed to sigh in his mind. “She won’t be back from her mission for weeks. I hope she has time to give us. We need her to speak to the new arrivals. It takes quite a while for them to settle down and get used to hearing voices in their heads. Some of them just . . . flip out and fail to adjust. When Daisy can communicate with them, they become a lot more cooperative.”
“What’s this over here?” Jose had sidled up to a glass room with a table that had a small glass-covered dish lying on it. Inside the dish sat a rock.
Doodiet peeked around the corner to investigate what had caught Jose’s interest. “Oh, that. They are scumchi—minute life forms that thrive on minerals. They are from Chiox, a planet of nothing but rock, and some rudimentary plant life. The problem is the scumchi eat the rock. It’s their excrement that provides an environment for the simple plant life to take hold. We are attempting to discover the evolutionary track for the scumchi. Will they consume the planet? How long will that take? Will it give the plant life time to evolve into something more substantial? Plants need minerals to survive too. Is it possible to introduce a new series of life forms to the plant? We have many species that we would like to migrate to other young fertile planets. Some of our scientists think the Chiox is ripe for colonization.” Doodiet shrugged her slender furry shoulders. “It is a balancing act—critical and potentially deadly. We never know exactly what we will get when we do a colonization. Look at our failure with Homo sapiens. It has been a horror story. But most of the time we are successful. And remember, your planet was only the 6609th species intervention. So our numbers are actually pretty good.”
Jose was speechless for a moment. “So let me get this right. I’m here to be a zoo keeper?”
Doodiet cocked her head, fur rising to stand on end. “Brother Jose, I detect a note of hostility. I am becoming uneasy. Brother Forbation will not be happy when I report to him that you are less then cooperative.”
Doodiet’s words sobered him abruptly. Kneeling in front of the diminutive minion he begged, “No, no. I’m very appreciative, Sister Doodiet. You misunderstood me.” He grabbed the minion’s leather hand, her suction cup fingers attaching themselves to him. “I beg you, Sister. Let me show you what a good job I can do.” He looked around his surroundings and swallowed hard. “I’m grateful for this opportunity.”
Apparently, Jose was convincing enough to sway Doodiet for she directed him to a hallway he had previously overlooked. Doodiet’s aura darkened. “I need only show this location to you once.” Jose’s curiosity rose.
A metal door blocked the entrance to the hallway. Alongside the door was a small box made of metal and a stool underneath. Doodiet climbed the stool, inserted her hand in the box and extracted a round key. Climbing down, she tapped the key on the metal door near the floor. Stepping back, the door opened. Doodiet motioned him through with a warning. “Do not leave my side. Not even for a second.” Jose’s interest increased.
Together, they took a few steps into the hallway that was lined with the same glass chambers with airlocks attached. The only difference was the metal bars that surrounded each and every chamber in a tight web of a crisscrossing design. A few minions pushed carts laden with varieties of substance meant for the occupants. The minions wore head gear unlike anything he had seen before. A thin supple skin of clear insulation completely encased the minions and on their heads there was a small apparatus with tubes, covering their antlers and all.
“This is a restricted area. It contains some of the most lethal species known to minions. If a lethal species is not a guest here, it’s because we haven’t had time to get to it yet. I’m happy to report we have no Homo sapiens here . . . yet.”
“Just what do you mean by yet, Sister?”
Doodiet’s aura brightened with sparkles and bright light. Jose watched her bend at the waist then straighten up. “Do you not know humor, my Brother? I was just trying some out on you. You did not laugh.”
“Ya got me there, Sister Doodiet.” Jose rolled his eyes. What’s next? he asked himself. Turning back to his escort, he asked, “So this is a jail?”
Doodiet’s aura remained silent then caressed his mind. “For some guests, yes. Their stay might be short-term, but only for a rare few. For the others . . . more like a prison; as it should be. Some of them are the last of their species. Come, we must suit up. If there is an unlikely accident, it will keep us free of contamination.”
As Jose opened his mouth to speak, a resounding clatter, then crash was heard. Turning around, Jose saw a minion with a loaded cart had entered the hallway and bent to replace the key on the occupied side of the room. It appeared the minion had jarred the cart as he bent, sending the contents crashing to the ground. The minion stood, stress and anxiety obvious in the wild shaking of its arms. Doodiet waved her arms in return; the incident obviously a critical dilemma.
“I must give help, Brother Jose. Do not move. Our guests expect their sustenance on schedule. If not, some of them could die . . . or get quite riled.” With hardly a glance for Jose, Doodiet rushed off to help salvage the mess.
Finally alone, Jose scanned the space. Other minions had rushed to help, creating a bottleneck around the toppled cart. Whistling to himself, Jose slowly wandered off. His impression of the gigantic space was that of a simple yet effective contamination lab; a hot lab. He wondered what sort of microbes were crawling around on the minion’s “guests”. As Jose wandered deeper into the restricted area, he was struck by an amazing fact. The walls . . . what the heck is with the walls?
Jose stood next to a wall and banged his hand on what appeared to be a hard substance. He placed his hand flat, feeling an uncomfortable coolness. But where was the Womb? With the exception of the survivors’ quarters, all of the walls in the fortress were alive. He wondered about the difference in the security domain. Didn’t the Womb want to keep an eye in here too? He tipped his head back to look up. No soaring ceilings with glorious light either. Continuing on, he came to a storage area of sorts. A line of empty spheres stood against the wall. Just like the sphere he’d seen the night they’d first set their eyes on Bonnie’s friend IV, the navigator. Bonnie calls her Ivey, he remembered.
His attention returned to the spheres that took up most of the room at this end of the unusual space. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a lone glass chamber with its air duct surrounded by the metal bars to which he was already becoming accustomed. Looking around, he found he was alone. Eyeing up the glass prison, he noticed an empty cart to the side. Feeding time over? Sidling closer to the glass, he attempted to shake off a new creepy sensation. The deafening silence began to shriek at him.
He swallowed hard, his throat suddenly constricted and dry. Biting his lip and fastening his tail thoroughly to his chest, he crept closer. His heart began to hammer with the excitement of catching his first glimpse of a dangerous alien creature. Taking one last scan around to reassure himself he was safe from harm and discovery, he peeked through the glass, his vision somewhat restricted by the metal bars.
His heart stopped and he almost fainted as a slender shape with a massive head and a double row of hundreds of stiletto teeth from a maw dripping a rusty foam slapped up against the glass, almost as if it knew he would be there. And then it disappeared, having shown itself for less than a fraction of a second.
Jose blinked, his pulse racing, his skin wet with perspiration, clammy and cold. What the fuck? He noticed he had an almost irrational need to urinate. He hugged his damaged wings tightly to his body and considered disappearing back to his frugal room. Knowing it would be too hard to exp
lain if he turned up missing from Doodiet’s watchful eye, he hesitated. Breathing deeply, slowly, he attempted to calm himself down. Looking deeper into the glass, he observed clearly that the block was empty. Nerves . . . just nerves, he thought, completely overlooking the smears of rusty goo on the glass behind the bars.
Realizing the predicament he’d be in if he were discovered here, Jose casually high-tailed it back to the minions that were just dispersing, having completed the clean-up. Among the crowd, the diminutive Doodiet easily stood out. He felt her aura probing his mind.
“Where did you go, Brother Jose?”
Replying nonchalantly, Jose felt his face redden. “Nowhere, Sister. I just stepped back over there.” He pointed to the storage area with the spheres and the frightening glass cage. What’s the point in lying? No harm done.
Doodiet spoke. “Well . . . no harm done.” Her aura spun slowly. The minion shuffled over to stare up at him. Seconds ticked by as Jose’s face began to redden again.
“I worry for your safety, Brother Jose. My Brother Forbation is correct when he says humans are unpredictable. Minions have relied on predictability and our insistence on non-violence for as long as life has existed. There is very little that confounds the Womb. Now that we are to live with Homo sapiens in concert, I pray to the Womb that all will be well. What do you think, Brother Jose?” She continued to stoically stand in front of him, her glowing golden eyes so much like his own.
“Ah . . . um . . . well yeah, I’m right there with you, Sister.” Silence trickled by, his blood racing through his ears like a wind tunnel.
“Come . . . it is time I show you your duties.”
Chastened and confused, Jose followed the gentle minion and gave her his undivided attention for the rest of the day.
When Aliens Weep: An Alien Apocalyptic Saga (Species Intervention #6609 Book 7) Page 12
