by J. J. Green
Her feet touched the floor, and she staggered up, scraping her eyes clear of liquid. She opened them just in time to see a tall tongue of gloop rise up, ready to grab her again. But Carrie’s long hours of Bagua Zhang training kicked in, and she reflexively sidestepped, thrusting out a flat, hard palm. As had happened when she and Dave landed upon the liquid, the fast contact created a dense viscosity. Resistance sent a jarring tremor down her arm, but the blow was effective, and the tongue split into two and fell into the ocean, where it was rapidly absorbed.
“Short, sharp, jabs,” muttered Carrie as another tongue rose and raced towards her. She punched it squarely in the middle, wincing at the shock. This tongue fell apart and tumbled down, quickly dissipating.
As a third tongue arose, she thought, Wait, what am I doing? She was at the shoreline. Maybe all she had to do was move out of reach? A sharp kick destroyed the next attacking wave, and she raced inland before glancing over her shoulder. The ocean didn’t seem to be pursuing her. When she was well out of reach she stopped. At the shore edge the yellow liquid flopped towards her, seeming to reach out, and tongues rose and fell, but they didn’t, or couldn’t, leave the ocean.
Carrie relaxed. She was covered in gloop once more, but she was safe for now. She gazed in wonder at the ocean that looked and tasted like custard but had the instincts of predator. It took her a few moments to realise there was something missing from the scene. Dave. There was no sign of Dave. She drew in a breath. Scanning the gently heaving waves, she spotted a flailing hand.
“Dave,” she shouted, running back to the shore. But the hand was no longer to be seen. Her heart in her mouth, Carrie gawked at the spot where it had disappeared. A bubble of air burst on the surface, then there was nothing. Not a splash, not a ripple. He was gone. “Dave.” Carrie whimpered. “Dave.”
Chapter Eleven – The Oootoon
Carrie slumped to the sand. The alien sea flopped onto the shore and drew back, flopped and drew back. She put her head in her hands. She’d only seen Dave for the first time yesterday. Not twenty four hours had passed since meeting him. He’d winked at her. He’d complimented her bag. He’d brought her cake.
She drew a sleeve across her eyes. If only she had demanded Gavin send him back to Earth, even if he refused to send her. There was no reason for Dave to be involved. None at all. This was supposed to be her job. She wondered if Dave had a partner. He had never spoken of anyone, but he must at the very least have family and friends who would never know what happened to him, and she couldn’t tell them, assuming she managed to get home. They would have her locked up.
A sob burst from her, and another and another. Tears spilled from her eyes and ran down her face, cutting channels in the traces of yellow gloop. It wasn’t Dave’s fault he had come here, it was hers. She should have been more careful. She should have put away the things Gavin had given her, then he wouldn’t have seen them. He wouldn’t have been tempted to look at them and he might have left the kitchen before the cupboard door opened.
Thinking about the devices she’d left on her table reminded Carrie of the translator. She wondered if she could use to to speak to Gavin, or if it would at least send signals that showed her distressed state. Going home was the only thing on her mind now. If she begged, maybe he would let her. He couldn’t refuse now that her companion had died, surely? The thought of spending another second on this planet looking at the ocean that had swallowed her friend, that had become his grave, was unbearable.
When they’d first left the ocean, she’d taken the translator out of her pocket and put it down on the sand. She soon found where she had left it, covered thinly in alien custard. She exhaled. It was a safe distance from the ocean’s edge.
Carrie reached down to pick up the translator. As her fingers made contact, a cacophony of outraged squeals erupted in her mind. She snatched her hand away, and stared at the device. Reaching out again, she lightly touched it with her fingertips. Once more, there was a chorus of voices. Upon removing her fingers, the voices stopped.
Kneeling next to the translator, she placed a finger on it and concentrated on what the voices were saying. They were speaking English, but they were so loud and outraged, and there were so many, they were almost incomprehensible. Carrie frowned. Some voices were shrilling Catch the invader and Down with all aliens, others were shouting Victory and We got one of them. Carrie could also make out some quieter voices saying Our poor citizens and Gone forever and Eaten by an alien.
Eaten by an alien? Carrie jerked her finger away. She looked at the custard sea and wiped her mouth. The yellow liquid looked like an ocean. It covered at least half the planet, according to what she had seen from her rides on the paperclip. It was the colour and taste of custard, and even had its weird viscosity. But she was the only ‘alien’ around, and she had definitely eaten some of it. It had never occurred to her...Carrie’s stomach squirmed.
Laying a finger on the translator again, the voices instantly started up in her mind. The custard was full of beings communicating telepathically. She wondered if they could also hear her thoughts.
Hello? she said in her mind. Can you hear me? The voices continued without reaction. I’m a stranger here. I’m sorry for...Hello? But as much as she tried, she got no response. The custard creatures didn’t seem to hear her at all. She would have to try speaking.
“Hello?” She repeated herself several times at increasing volume, then bellowed.
Some of the closer, louder voices ceased, though a monotonous drone continued in the background. It seemed a few parts of the yellow liquid had heard her. There was shushing, and calls of Be quiet and Shut up, it’s speaking. A single voice piped Murderer! before it was silenced.
“Can I speak to someone?” asked Carrie. “I wanted to say, I’m very sorry for, er, accidentally eating one, or several, of you.”
Cries of Killer, Criminal, He was my best friend and How could you? echoed in Carrie’s mind. Her eyes began to fill with tears. “I’m really sorry. I had no idea. Where I come from, we eat something that looks exactly like you, and I just thought you were the same thing. It was...you were...” The words ‘delicious’ died on her lips.
That’s no excuse was the majority response, closely followed by How would you like it if we came to your planet and ate some of you? and We don’t believe a word of it.
“Honestly, back on Earth, I would never do such a thing. I’m actually a vegetarian, you know, and I have pets. I love animals.”
The outrage this statement provoked was deafening. Carrie removed her finger from the translator in fear her brain would burst. Erratic ripples flowed over the ocean surface. Custard tongues rose up and ran towards her, only to topple uselessly down when they reached the shore edge. Carrie stepped away a few paces, cursing herself.
She folded her arms and bit her lip. There was nothing else for her to do but try again. Gavin wouldn’t find out there was something wrong unless he discovered it through the translator, and there seemed to be no way off this planet without his help. She had to touch the device even if she couldn’t get through to the custard ocean She stepped closer to the translator and placed a toe on it.
“Sorry about that,” she shouted several times until the hubbub quietened enough to indicate at least some of the custard was listening. “I didn’t mean to say you’re animals. I just meant, I wouldn’t have eaten you if I’d realised you were alive. I don’t eat living things, I mean things that once lived, unless you include plants and stuff.” Carrie paused. “What I mean to say is, I’m really, really sorry I ate some of you, and if I’d known you were living, and intelligent, and had feelings, I would never have done it. I don’t know what I can do to prove it to you, but it’s true.”
Anger welled up in Carrie. “And you attacked my friend. Why did you do that? He wasn’t the one that hurt you; it was me.”
A host of ocean voices responded to Carrie’s words, and she could not clearly make out what any of them were saying. The tones were angry,
measured, conciliatory, outraged, reasoning, and sympathetic all at once, with none louder than the rest. She listened for several minutes, but the voices went on and on and seemed to be in no hurry to come to any kind of consensus or response she could understand. Carrie’s mind buzzed with the noise. She lost concentration and gave up.
Leaving the shore to walk and think for a while, images of Dave’ flailing hand and the bubble of air, the last air he had breathed, popping on the ocean surface, played over and over in her mind. She pictured his face. He’d tried to make her feel welcome, when no one else in the call center had been friendly. He’d come to her house, thinking she was having a housewarming party. He’d even owned up about stealing the translator. And she had got him killed by eating some of an alien sea.
Carrie reached the edge of the leaf forest where she and Dave had run when the custard ocean was being bombed. She stopped and turned, looking back at the vast yellow expanse. The placktoids had been bombing the ocean, an ocean that could talk and move at will. Of course. It was...it was...what had Gavin called it? The oootoon. The yellow gloop was the other side in the conflict with the placktoids.
Returning to the shoreline, Carrie found the voices had calmed down. There were still so many it was difficult to understand what they were saying, but she could make out some utterances.
What is it, anyway? some were asking, and Why is it here? and What should we do with it? In response to the final question there was a chorus of Ruin, ruin, ruin.
Carrie swallowed. “Hello?” she called, and as she spoke many voices quietened down. “I can answer some of your questions if you like. My name’s Carrie. Carrie Hatchett, and I’m a human, from Earth.”
Human, what’s that? Earth? Never heard of it. There’s no such place. It’s making it up. Are they all murderous savages where you come from, then? How strange to go around all separated like that. How do you...you know?
Carrie’s forehead knotted into a frown. She had to speak to the oootoon, but how was she supposed to speak to hundreds, or thousands or millions of them at once? It was impossible, yet there was nothing to do but to try. She set her lips.
“Yes, there really is a planet called Earth,” she said. “I don’t know where it is, or how I came here from there, but it’s my home. The sea there is blue and it isn’t alive like you are, but it’s full of living things. And the land, well, lots of that is green, but there are also mountains and deserts and icy places where the ground is always frozen. And...” Her voice caught. “And it’s very, very beautiful.” And a long, long way away, she thought.
Blue sea? What’s a sea? Weird. Sounds like a dump. Don’t be rude. Where could that be, then? Is it far? So what? Who cares?
“Anyway,” Carrie said, “I’m here to resolve this problem you’ve got with the placktoids.”
Problem, what problem? Oh, she means the things, you know. Oh those other aliens. What are they? Placktoids they call themselves. Urghh, horrible. Can’t stand them. Soon put a stop to their nonsense.
“So, if we could get on to solving that, I could get out of your way.” And home.
Well, it all started long, long ago, when most of us were just drops, isn’t that right? I’d say it goes further back than that. Start at the beginning, work your way forward, then stop. No, just tell her the important bits. The voices continued, with snippets of information here, an anecdote there, and lots of chatter in between. After a while Carrie’s attention wandered, and the events of the last few hours began to catch up. Her eyelids began drooping, and her head nodded.
When we captured the other one, said a voice. The other placktoid? No, the other one like the one here.
Carrie’s head jerked up. The other one like the one here? She was the only alien here. The other one like her was Dave, but the oootoon had said captured. Not killed, drowned, destroyed or any other word used to describe taking a life.
“Excuse me,” she shouted. “Excuse me. Be quiet, and listen, please, listen to me, it’s very important.” After a few more attempts, there was a lull in the chatter. “My companion, the other human, is he...” Carrie screwed her eyes shut. “Is he still alive?”
The response was outraged. Of course it’s still alive. What do you take us for, savages?
Chapter Twelve – Bubble Passage
A great, rending, gasping sob burst from Carrie. Alive. Dave was alive.
What’s it doing? What’s it saying? The words are strange. Those are noises, not words. Urghh, make it stop.
Carrie stifled her weeping. If Dave was alive, where was he? The custard ocean had swallowed him, and there was no way he could breathe in it.
“Excuse me, excuse me.” Carrie tried to interrupt, but the oootoons were too interested in discussing the phenomenon of her crying. She stood. “That’s enough,” she yelled. “Shut up, won’t you? For once, just bloody shut up.” The voices dropped to murmur level. Carrie detected a few exclamations of How rude! but ignored them. “My friend, where is he? What have you done with him?”
Does she mean the other one? I think she means the other one. Where is he? What did we do with him? Does anyone know where the other one of the murderous aliens is?
Carrie shut her eyes and clenched her fists. “Please, would one of you, or some of you, bring him back?”
Hey, you’re not having him. You can’t have him, he’s ours. If we give him back, you’ll start eating us again. He’s our hostage, like the others. We’re not stupid, you know.
“Okay, okay. If you won’t bring him here, at least take me to him.” Carrie regretted the words as they left her mouth. What was she saying? How did she know the oootoons weren’t lying? If she allowed them to take her, they could drown her easily. Land was her only place of safety.
No, that isn’t a good idea. Come closer. Come over here and we’ll take you. Two—we’ll have two of them. Don’t bother. What good is that going to do us? Come closer, we can’t reach you there. Tendrils of custard sea oozed up the sand towards Carrie. She stepped back, then hesitated. What choice did she have but to trust the creatures? It was the only chance she had of reaching Dave, and she was desperate to see him and know that he was okay.
Knees trembling, Carrie took a step, then another. Custard snakes slithered over her shoes and up her calves.
Closer, closer. We can’t reach you, said the voices.
Carrie took another step, and gasped as she was suddenly knee deep in warm custard.
Deeper, deeper.
Thigh deep, then in up to her waist Carrie went, her heart thudding. She imagined how terrified Dave must have been when the custard overwhelmed him. She looked back at the shore, which seemed so dry and safe.
Under, under, under, chorused the voices.
Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Carrie plunged into the ocean, recoiling from the slimy feeling. She gripped the translator. As the oootoon ocean closed over her head, she panicked and tried to swim to the surface to breathe, but she no longer knew which way was up, and if she opened her eyes in the opaque liquid she wouldn’t be able to see. Besides, swimming in it would only make her sink. She was enveloped in warm gloop, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Just when Carrie’s lungs began to ache and she was giving up hope that the oootoon would keep its word and take her to Dave, the custard drained from her face and the rest of her body. She wiped her eyes and opened one a slit. A dim light surrounded her. She could make out a smooth yellow wall a metre away. Opening her eyes, Carrie saw she was in a custard bubble, and the liquid was glowing with some kind of phosphorescence. She exhaled before taking a test breath. The air smelled sickly sweet.
But where was Dave?
She let out a small squeal as a semi-liquid protrusion rose from the floor and lifted her off her feet. It became a custard chair like a sloppy bean bag, and she sank into it as acceleration pushed her deeper into the liquid. Reaching out to touch the wall of the bubble, she was sprayed by custard. The bubble was moving rapidly. She could still h
ear the voices of the oootoon, but they were a hum of incoherent sound, like a massive crowd of chattering people passed at high speed.
How long would it take to reach Dave? she wondered. It seemed ages since the custard had taken him. He must be hopping mad by now, thought Carrie, or terrified. A scary thought occurred to her. Did the custard know humans needed oxygen to survive? Had the air in Dave’s bubble run out?
She wondered how deep beneath the surface she was. Oceans on Earth were miles deep at their deepest points, but the pressure down there was crushing. She didn’t feel as though she was very deep. Either she was still close to the surface or the custard was maintaining normal atmospheric pressure around her. Maybe if she angered the oootoon the bubble would collapse and she would be crushed to death.
Her stomach lurched as the bubble decelerated. Pushing a finger into the wall created a lazy wake. She must be nearly there. She steeled herself against what she might see and forced images of Dave’s suffocated body from her mind. The wall before her thinned and then dissolved. Her bubble had broken into another, and there was Dave.
He leapt up. “Carrie, I thought you were dead.” He hugged her tightly.
“Well, I’m not,” squeaked Carrie. “But I may soon...”
“Sorry.” He released his grip. “I thought I’d never see you again. Never see another human being.” He rubbed a knuckle in his eye. “I thought—”
“I’m the one who should be sorry, Dave.” She grabbed his arms. “I wanted to say I’m sorry you’re here and involved in all this. I should have told Gavin I wasn’t interested. I should have demanded he left me alone. But I thought it was all a dream, you see. Even after I got up the next day and saw all that stuff on my kitchen table, it didn’t seem real.”
