Strange Happenings?
nooby
Join Date: 2003-04-21 Member: 15717Members
Join Date: 2003-04-21 Member: 15717Members
Short story for you.
The giant freighter clicked, spzzt, and groaned with contraction, the noise loud and disrupting as the two stores clerks exited. The words carried a long way due to the fact they were shouting to be heard over the noise of the cooling ship. The aggrieved under-clerk angry that they had singled him out to repay the losses.
How could they make him pay for the disappearing supplies when they couldn't catch the thief. To blame him for the theft of four hundred pounds of meat products, he would be the size of the proverbial barn if he had eaten that amount.
Definately a union matter agreed the second clerk, nodding in sympathy, relieved that he wasn't being blamed. The disappearance of the meat was a mystery. Traps had been set, alarms installed, sensors of every kind placed and nothing. The rumours of ghosts were debunked as what ghost needed to eat physical food, and so they had chosen at random and placed blame on him.
With forty years of seniority they were going to regret their choice. He went straight to the union and set the ball rolling. The union took one look and grounded every ship in ninety Galaxies. The corporations howled, but knew they were caught by the short and curlies. They all called the Spinnaker Corporation and recalled all loaned ships, personnel, equipment and said all bills Will be paid by the end of the month.
The Spinnaker Corporation shareholders howled when they learned of the disaster. Five minutes after landfall the first irate call was made, the switch crashed by sheer numbers. This sent the wrong signal to the investors who thought they were being fobbed off. They descended on the offices and made the chaos unmanageable.
Back at the spaceport, the shadowy figure went unnoticed as it attached itself to the underside of the cargo hauler. The exit of the facility was fortuitous, as the hauler was the last vehicle to escape before the lock-down. The measures were too little, too late.
Into the city proper, the shadowy figure left the underside of the hauler. It had waited until a quiet, dimly lit area had been entered and the vehicle had slowed, then catlike had disappeared into the urban sprawl. The shadow blending into shadow that no-one saw.
The first thoughts had been to seek shelter and access to food. The first was found in an abandoned factory, a few miles from the exit site. It had taken a considerable length of time due to the stealth that was necessary to stay hidden and unseen. The second now became imperative, the time since the last meal was measured by days.
The pangs of hunger, and the need to find nourishment were soon going to make for lack of control, this would spell disaster, the begiinning of the end. A source had to be found this day or trouble would descend rapidly. The seeking took on new urgency as time passed. There had to be a ready source of food close-by.
The suddenness of the discovery was enough to stun.
The giant freighter clicked, spzzt, and groaned with contraction, the noise loud and disrupting as the two stores clerks exited. The words carried a long way due to the fact they were shouting to be heard over the noise of the cooling ship. The aggrieved under-clerk angry that they had singled him out to repay the losses.
How could they make him pay for the disappearing supplies when they couldn't catch the thief. To blame him for the theft of four hundred pounds of meat products, he would be the size of the proverbial barn if he had eaten that amount.
Definately a union matter agreed the second clerk, nodding in sympathy, relieved that he wasn't being blamed. The disappearance of the meat was a mystery. Traps had been set, alarms installed, sensors of every kind placed and nothing. The rumours of ghosts were debunked as what ghost needed to eat physical food, and so they had chosen at random and placed blame on him.
With forty years of seniority they were going to regret their choice. He went straight to the union and set the ball rolling. The union took one look and grounded every ship in ninety Galaxies. The corporations howled, but knew they were caught by the short and curlies. They all called the Spinnaker Corporation and recalled all loaned ships, personnel, equipment and said all bills Will be paid by the end of the month.
The Spinnaker Corporation shareholders howled when they learned of the disaster. Five minutes after landfall the first irate call was made, the switch crashed by sheer numbers. This sent the wrong signal to the investors who thought they were being fobbed off. They descended on the offices and made the chaos unmanageable.
Back at the spaceport, the shadowy figure went unnoticed as it attached itself to the underside of the cargo hauler. The exit of the facility was fortuitous, as the hauler was the last vehicle to escape before the lock-down. The measures were too little, too late.
Into the city proper, the shadowy figure left the underside of the hauler. It had waited until a quiet, dimly lit area had been entered and the vehicle had slowed, then catlike had disappeared into the urban sprawl. The shadow blending into shadow that no-one saw.
The first thoughts had been to seek shelter and access to food. The first was found in an abandoned factory, a few miles from the exit site. It had taken a considerable length of time due to the stealth that was necessary to stay hidden and unseen. The second now became imperative, the time since the last meal was measured by days.
The pangs of hunger, and the need to find nourishment were soon going to make for lack of control, this would spell disaster, the begiinning of the end. A source had to be found this day or trouble would descend rapidly. The seeking took on new urgency as time passed. There had to be a ready source of food close-by.
The suddenness of the discovery was enough to stun.
Comments
An orgy of feeding began, an uncontrolled frenzy to devour all in sight. It wasn't until with bulging stomach and leaden sensors that the insane orgiastic gorging ceased. The shadow became acutely and suddenly aware of the folly just committed, and spent some time crawling slowly into the deepest darkness, there to contemplate the stupidity of it's actions.
With relative safety of the deep shadow and satiation and a distended stomach, plans were made, discarded, remade and refined. It was some time later whilst drowsy from the overfeeding that the attack came. Swift, silent and brutal. The more devastating because it came from a source completely unkown. Without any warning and totally debilitating, no defence was capable of defeating this foe.
Total was the defeat.
After what seemed like an eternity of pain and suffering reality intruded, it was with profound dread and fear that the voice came out of the darkness. How could this have been allowed to occur. The loss of awareness and the inability to control even the most simplest of movements added to the incapacitation.
The voice came again, but a difference was heard. The tone was gentle and full of understanding, and the message it spoke triggered memories of other advice given. The most basic lesson regarding meat. You must always smell the meat, if it smells bad it is. The shame felt at this gentle reminder was forestalled by the realisation that the speaker was an old white haired lady with sight problems. The sight of the cane triggering memories of the meaning.
The lady explained the attack as being the result of eating contaminated portions, the smell of the mess made, indicating that nature had rebelled and flushed the system clean. The lady called and indicated a side of meat and gave the necessary advice while deftly slicing portions. She turned and began to walk away saying be careful.
The effects of the disaster had dissipated by this time and it was with relief the footsteps were heard to diminish. A search of the place was started when a cry reached the ears. Quickly with stealth, the disturbance was found. The old lady was backed against the fence and surrounded by four people abusing and taunting her. It wasn't until they took her cane and hit her that any reaction happened.
Arriving home the old lady reported the incident. The police investigation was totally stumped. They were of a mind to dismiss the incident as senile fancy except there was so much blood. They checked the area and came up with no bodies or clues. They were baffled and frustrated.
They were still of a mind to dismiss the incident until two days later. Reports of the four missing people landed on their desks. This kept the case open. The old ladies description of the incident puzzled them.
Four youths taunting her and abusing her with no action. No action until they grabbed her cane and hit her. The shadowy blur with sounds of violence the smell of blood, cries of pain then death and silence.
Could you tell us how does the police of the future look like? (I imagine them as the guys from RoboCop.)
Quick image.
The image on the wall had been defaced and defiled till it had lost any resemblance to what it was originally, the words were still legible though.
PROTECT YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD JOIN THE POLICE FORCE.
The two person team looked, and shook their heads. So the ancients had their problems too said the smaller male Policeperson.
The senior, taller male looked and saw a man of indeterminate race, athletic build, sporting brown eyes and hair, he stood five ten and weighed one hundred kilos. A fitter, slimmer, and faster version of the old veteran that had taught him the ropes. The police took you because you had the smarts, no stereotypes were normal anymore. The ability to use the latest equipment and techniques was the important requirement. They did basic training with the Frontiersmen in case the Kharaa attacked their world.
Damn the concept was too good to miss, now look what you made me do. ENJOY.
A week later the old lady called again and reported another incident. This time there was no blood. The same scenario was described. She had been taunted and bullied by six youths who boasted they would get revenge for their fellow gang members, then the blurred shadow and sounds of death and nothing. Again no bodies.
The police were baffled. They called the FBI to ask for their expertise and equipment. The task was so different that the local head agreed. The area was combed and examined multiple times and no explanation put forth. All parties shelved the case.
The old lady continued to frequent the building but no further attacks were made. The observers called it a day. They didn't interfere with her collection, even though they surmised correctly she was taking meat. They realized that she was capable of discerning good from bad and she had been doing it for awhile.
The old lady had a visit from her granddaughter, who, after hearing of the attack, asked to be shown the area. The granddaughter rechecked the area but looked with different eyes and knowledge. After checking the ground area she went to the roof and found the signs she had surmised and looked for.
The granddaughter now had a dilemma. The granddaughter asked her grandmother what the right action was. The grandmother didn't know. This knowledge caused many sleepness nights. What was the right thing to do?
The granddaughter called her most trusted friend to come for a visit. The friend was given the explanation and asked for advice, the friend after checking the area agreed with the summation. A decision had to be made.
They decided to check adjacent areas and then make up their minds. The check took five more days when they made a startling discovery. They were intrigued to hear music coming from an old abandoned fair ground, the old lady told them it had been closed for ten years.
On checking, they were astounded to see a skulk riding and bounding on and off a merry-go-round, chuckling with delight. They were floored to suddenly hear in their minds the invitation to enjoy the ride.
The skulk told them of the ride on the freighter. It had been looking for a meal near the spaceport, instead of fleeing upon hearing voices it had jumped into a crate which had then been sealed. The crate had been carried onto the freighter, which then took-off.
The skulk had survived the trip by eating meat from stores. The tale of the escape from the spaceport, skulking under a hauler had them all in mirth. The stopping of the two gang attacks was explained by the skulk, payment, for the help in survival the old lady had given.
The unasked question the skulk answered. The skulk had become sentient due to an experiment on a planet populated by Corporation scientists. A major earthquake caused by an erupting volcano had killed most of the staff and destroyed the facility.
The experiment had been to merge humans and Kharaa to make the ultimate soldier. The knowledge of humans had been gained along with the Kharaa memories when the merge had been completed. The ability to interface with humans and computers had been an accidental occurrence.
The other unasked question about the instinctive aggression of the Kharaa the skulk answered, it was close once due to intense hunger. Control had almost been lost. The skulk then informed them that it was now ready for capture. It had had it's ride on a merry-go-round.
The old lady came forward and with her came most of the old people from the neighbourhood. They informed the two that they would not let them inform on their friend and protector.
At the blank looks on the two rines faces, the old lady told them of the constant popping up of the skulk to protect them from the thugs that had been an everyday occurrence for the past ten years. The attacks had ceased since the skulk had come home. The assembled group agreed. The rines told them of the past years between the human race and the Kharaa, they explained the whole picture without embellishment.
They were stunned to hear the assembled people agree, and that they already knew.
The rines asked how they knew all this. The group all looked at the skulk and pointed. The rines were amazed by the knowledge that the skulk had imparted, no lies or polite cover ups were done, the truth was absolute.
The rines asked what they wanted done. The group elected the old lady spokesperson. She told them that feeding was the only problem, the meat in the building would either be destroyed or taken somewhere else. They would then have to find an alternate source of food.
The two walked a small distance away and spoke for several minutes. The two reached an agreement which was sealed by the shaking of hands. They returned to the group. The older rine told the group he knew someone who could fix it.
The only thing would be that the someone would want to move a research building into the area. This would have to be kept secret. The old rine looked at the skulk and stated that some tests would need to be done with permission, but never anything to cause pain.
The skulk looked into his mind and chuckled. The information was passed onto the assembled group who also chuckled. The solution was agreed to be perfect.
The older rine asked why a merry-go-round ride. When the merge was to be made the human was told to think of the best happy memory he could, the merry-go-round was it. It was such an intriguing memory that having come here he had to experience it for himself, and it had been even better than the remembered thrill. The old rine promised the merry-go-round would be fixed and additions made to make the ride Kharaa friendly.