CHAPTER TWENTY – Murderer!
“Why is everyone pointing guns at us?” I asked Caroline. Caroline looked at me for a moment, thinking about her response. She then came out with a reason. “They haven’t had one of their own annihilated for over two hundred years!” “What happens when they get old?” “They don’t update their digital copies. So when they materialise, they always materialise at the same age.” “So everyone sees me as this murderer?” Caroline nodded, “In a place that hasn’t had a murder for over two hundred years.” It sunk in for me and I felt sick rise in my throat. I looked at Caroline in a confused fashion. “What were you trying to do in there?” I asked. “I was trying to get you your plot of land. For that, I need to register you as a refugee, and then I can claim certain resources for you. But I wasn’t even…
CHAPTER NINETEEN – Reject
I awoke from a nightmare where I was being chased by an ominous cloud that could move things around me. It was strong. Lifting the aliens I ended up passing and throwing them a distance. Demolishing anything in its path to get to me. It grabbed me and then I woke. Sweating and panting, the shock of reality hitting me like a truck in the night. I screamed. Caroline woke up with a start. First she was leaning on my tube, her face pressed against the glass. Then she sat up faster than a bullet. I looked at her for a moment and then realised where I was. She looked startled. “James, are you okay?” I looked at her and nodded. “I think so,” I replied. Unsure how to respond, I didn’t know if I was okay or not. It felt like it was just a moment ago when I…
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN – The Tube
The next day, I laid there as the Tuhingan doctors and Caroline were crowding around me. They were looking at their pads and going through a list of things they had tried, haven’t tried, and what they think would be too far. So far, radiation was at the bottom of the list. The process sounded awful. Much like the chemotherapy. I didn’t like the idea of losing my hair, but they had more advanced equipment and medical knowledge than we had on Earth. However, I couldn’t help but think at the back of my mind that the doctors working on me had never seen a human before. Opifex was grumbling a lot. He couldn’t stand his new Companion. At first, he seemed stunned by her. To me, she looked like all the other Tuhingans, a little more chubby than the average, but nothing special about her. However, he seemed to…
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN – Almost Annihilated
I awoke laying on a bed in a glass tube. Half rings lit up around me, scanning me as they move up and down. I remember the sound of wind filling my ears again and this gentle heat warming my skin. I realised I was naked in this tube and had Tuhingan circling me looking at pads and looking at the displays attached to the tube. When I first awoke, they didn’t notice me. But that soon changed. “Ahh, he’s awake! James, you have given us quite a scare!” “Where’s Periclum!?” I demanded to know. They all looked at each other, looking as though they were unsure how to tell me something. “James, Periclum has been annihilated.” It was the same Tuhingan that spoke the first time. This time, speaking in the softest tone possible. I looked at him, confused. “What do you mean? Can’t you materialise him?” “We could……
CHAPTER SIXTEEN – Escape the Penthouse
The first thing I remember after the accident is the sound of that alarm. Continual, quick paced beeps that came from within my helmet. The flash of yellow kept on coming through my eyelids. I felt my head hurting like a truck had run over it. I unsuccessfully attempted to move my right arm, but it was being weighed down by something. My mind was swimming. Confronted writing flashing in yellow in front of my eyes, I squinted them open like I was looking at the sun. At first it said something in some alien language I didn’t understand. But as I tried to focus on it, I saw it change. “Warning!” Warning for what? I wondered. I noticed beyond this message, I could see a crack in my visor. Then I remembered. Remembering the building collapsed, I figured I must be under the rubble. Panic set in as I attempted…
CHAPTER FIFTEEN – Back to the Penthouse
I held my breath as I looked up. Then almost fell backwards when I realised the dome-shaped creature wasn’t there. Periclum was there to save me and pushed me into the flat. He then disconnected himself from me and went up the stairs to check the bedroom. When he re-emerged from the bedroom, he had his face showing and his invisibility off. The door closed behind me. “It’s nice here! Bit small for an environment, but nice!” He seemed happy to be looking around. “So is this what it is like to be living on Earth?” He continued as he went down the stairs and then opened the fridge. I just watched him like I was watching TV, numb to the situation. He had pulled out a sandwich and began eating. “James, take your cloak off!” he said as he looked in my direction. I looked down at my screen…
CHAPTER FOURTEEN – The Main Mission
I panicked, didn’t know what to do, where to go. I ran back. Back onto the seabed. The edge of the room was clear now that there wasn’t any water in the tank anymore. The differences in terrain comparing what was real and what was not. I backed up, fearful. Realising that the Stilla couldn’t see me considering they were searching the domes. They were opening doors and trying to find whatever or whoever. I stood there, terrified, knowing that I needed to do something, anything. I looked at the exit once again. The Stilla were coming through one at a time to search the area. I knew I needed to run, and perhaps the momentum of this powerful suit will be enough to get me through. I got ready to run like I was a runner on the start line. Then the invisible gun went off in my head. I ran.…
CHAPTER THIRTEEN – Back to the Cargo Ship
I recognised the white room from my first visit as it began fizzling into existence. It faded in like an analogue channel being tuned on an old television. It felt strange to be back there. I wanted to breathe heavily as a sense of fear overcame me. The EMC had soon formed me, but the device wouldn’t let me go. It parted my legs and arms to be a little further from my body, then a suit began materialising around me. I figured it must be a space suit as the visor formed in front of my face. When the suit was complete, the machine let me go. The suit added pressure within as it pushed against my body. It felt like it wanted to restrict my movement, but then I moved my arm and it moved dramatically. I didn’t need to put any effort into moving at all. I…
CHAPTER TWELVE – Captains Breakfast
It was early, and I felt tired, although not hung over. The bed hung over me like a giant blanket, waiting to swallow me up. Something disturbed me, but I didn’t know what. I turned over to look over to the side of the bed, only to find Periclum’s face staring back at me. My eyes wide fixed on his. His eyes turned into a smile and then it felt like he shouted good morning. I screamed and pushed myself back. Breathing heavy I stared at Periclum gripping a pillow like my life depended on it. “Sorry James, I was trying to wake you gently.” He looked at me while jumping on the spot, as if he had some great news to tell. “The Galactic Union has finished their investigation on the cargo ship you were on!” I looked at him, confused. “That’s great, but why does that concern me?” Periclum continued,…
CHAPTER ELEVEN – The Temple
It looked very much like every other building, however, it had more of an extravagant vibe. Like it was there to entertain. The other buildings that surrounded it were plain and minimal in comparison. This building was covered in small statue flowers painted gold and strange hieroglyphics shaped like dancing figures, dressed in a frame of that transparent material. There were windows everywhere in many shapes and sizes. I saw various aliens doing many things in differently designed rooms. Some were dancing, some eating and some doing things I have never seen before. It was all very bizarre. Periclum was holding the door for me. “Come on!” he shouted over. The doors were tall, even for me, and made of some transparent material frosted in design. I entered a large, extravagant hall with curved staircases on either side of the room. Covering the walls of this hall were hieroglyphics depicting different tales.…