Ghosts

by Barry Solway

Who’s following? The guy in the hood? Anna?

  Wait…

  Damn, Mel thought.

  “I lost Anna,” Mel said, just as three Latanua came up the path behind them.

  The Latanua stopped, surprised to see Mel and Evan there. The one in front was medium-sized for a Latanua, but looked overweight and slightly seedy to Mel. He had a thin reed in his mouth that he took out by wrapping a face tentacle around it, then he blew a cloud of orange smoke into the air.

  The Latanua turned his head slightly, talking to one of the others behind him. “See what’s happening to this town? Bad enough all the aliens they let in, now we got these metal invalids too.” He looked back at Evan with a threatening stare.

  Evan shrugged and looked away. Mel’s eyes narrowed as the man glanced at her. “What you looking at?”

  She didn’t catch herself in time. “Hard to say. A pet monkey that escaped? Water scum that woke up one morning and thought it was a real person? It is a mystery.”

  “Mel, don’t…” Evan said.

  Mel turned away, trying to ignore the Latanua, but it was too late. The alien stepped forward, his face tentacles writhing.

  “Damn Asadharan. You think you’re better than everyone else. You can just go anywhere and look down on normal folk. You people are sick,” he hissed. “Cutting off body parts and turning yourself into a machine. It’s unnatural. The Order’s too nice with people like you. They should put you out of your misery, what’s I say.”

  “They tried,” Mel muttered. A bit louder, she turned back and said, “No one asked you, did they?”

  “Yeah, well, maybe the Order would like to know you’re out here harassing people who are just trying to enjoy a walk in nature. Local cops won’t do nothing but I bet the Order will. What do you think about that?”

  Evan looked at Mel with clear worry in his eyes. He shook his head and projected a thought through the translators. We can’t afford to make a scene. Or have this guy follow us. We need to leave, now. Mel frowned. After all her admonishments to the others about keeping a low profile, here she was picking a fight with a local. Grabbing Evan’s arm, she turned to walk down the trail, away from the three aliens.

  “Hey! I didn’t say you could leave, did I? What’s you hiding that you got to run away so fast?”

  “Children!” a booming voice echoed behind the three Latanua. It was so surprising, that even the three men jumped. Mel and Evan stopped, staring in surprise at the new figure that arrived.

  Covered in a brown cloak and hood, the figure moved forward, coming up about the same height as the Latanua. Sweeping back the hood, the figure strode through the men to stand between them and Mel.

  “My God, it’s Stoner,” Mel said, as she and Evan took a step backwards in momentary fear.

  Evan put a hand on her arm and shook his head. “No, it’s another Akshay. A woman.”

  “Children!” the newcomer said, facing the three Latanua. “I have come to preach the way of the Three Suns. The Purpose of Peace and Harmony. Will you listen? Will you take the Word of Love into your hearts, to meet your fellow man with Compassion and Kindness? Come, gather to me, and I shall elevate your consciousness. For you, I shall reveal the Truth!”

  “What the hell?” the Latanua man sputtered. “It’s like an invasion today. The whole town’s being taken over by aliens.”

  The Akshay moved forward, almost on top of the Latanua. “The Truth shall be yours, child, when you walk in the Light of the Three Suns. Are you prepared to hear my words? To have your heart broken open and accept the Light?”

  One of the Latanua behind the first one reached forward and grabbed him by the shoulder. “C’mon. She’s crazy and she’ll talk your ear off. The Order don’t care about the religious zealots. Leave her be, let’s go.”

  The first Latanua man shrugged him off and started to say something, but the Akshay interrupted him. “To achieve Enlightenment, one must open their heart. But the path to an open heart lies in open eyes and open ears, to see and hear the world as it is, not as we would have it be.” Mel had the feeling the Akshay was just getting warmed up.

  The Latanua swore, then grabbed the other two and turned away. “I don’t need your crazy Suns. Take that crap back to your own world and leave us alone.”

  “Alone! Alone in the world, because we cannot connect in Love with those who stand in front of us. Take my hand and join me in a prayer of Love and Connection,” the Akshay said, reaching a thick tentacled arm forward.

  The Latanua shook his head in disgust and the three turned and walked quickly away, casting rude remarks back at the Akshay. Mel’s only experience of the Akshay was a psychopathic killer in the gauntlets and this was definitely not what she would have expected.

  The alien turned to her and Evan, and Mel took a step back, both out of habit and also out of fear she would start preaching at them now that the Latanua had left.

  The Akshay woman laughed. “Nothing like starting a sermon to get people to run the opposite direction as fast as they can.” With a stern expression, she shook her head at Evan and Mel. “Foolish children. Those three are spies for the Order, paid to inform on their neighbors. They will turn in their own mother for a few credits and you practically beg to tell them you’re gladiators, terrorists, and outlaws wanted by the Order itself.”

  Mel glanced at Evan, trying to keep her face neutral and innocent and knowing she was failing miserably. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re just out for a walk.”

  The Akshay snorted. “I’m sure. You’re sloppy. I’ve been following you for over an hour.”

  “We know you were following us,” Evan interrupted. “We deliberately led you to the river. Who are you?”

  “Well,” the Akshay said. “Perhaps I underestimated you. Certainly others have, to their ruin. My name is Gem and I have been searching for you. I need your help.”

  “Our help? What for?” Mel said. This situation was getting weirder by the second. What the woman said next didn’t help.

  “I need you to help me find my brother. So I can kill him.”

  Chapter 26

  “Mel, I know what you’re trying to do, but you really need to get over it,” Anna said through her Polly drone. “All Riley was saying is that you need to think of the whole team, not just yourself. He wasn’t telling you to become a wallflower. It’s going around in circles, and you really need to step up.”

  “Okay, okay. I’ll try,” Mel replied, sighing. “I’m just trying not to be bossy.”

  “You’re doing great, trust me. Let’s get back in there before they decide Gem is a double agent and vote to lock her in the basement.”

  Mel steeled herself. Pushing open the door to the meeting, she followed Polly. Anna was still in the middle of the original conversation they were in when she’d asked Mel to leave the room. It was still weird that Anna was capable of having two conversations at the same time.

  “Having Gem on the team would be a huge asset,” Mel said. “We all know how tough Stoner is. We need a sixth person, and she’s perfect. We should vote… but she could really save us. I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want her to join.”

  “I told you why,” Beats said.

  “Yes, you did,” Mel agreed. “The timing is suspicious and she could be an Order agent. And this revenge thing with Stoner is weird and could cause problems. Even the fact that she rescued us from getting captured seems a bit coincidental. But her story checks out. And Anna can’t find any link between her and the Order. I guess they could have faked it, but what choice do we have? If she is an Order agent, then we’re already compromised. It would be better to have her on the inside where we can keep an eye on her and look for suspicious behavior. If we turn her away, then the Order is almost guaranteed to come knocking.”

  Riley cut in. “I’m leaning toward taking her on. Seriously, having an Akshay on the team? I’d pay for a cage match between her and Stoner. But your argument makes me nervous. If she’s not an agent, w
e have to take her on, and if she is an agent, we have to take her on. Basically, you want her on the team and you don’t really care about any argument against it.”

  Mel hid her frustration. “I’m only against bad arguments against it. Got a problem with that?”

  “Nope, just making sure we’re all clear.”

  “Seriously, though, what’s the downside?” Evan asked. “She’s right. If Gem is an agent, we should keep her close and try to confirm it. Anna, Simon, and I can keep tabs on her. If she tries contacting anyone, we’ll know.”

  “We need to vote, or whatever,” Mel said. “Where’s Gorgeous? Did anyone look for her?”

  “I couldn’t find her earlier,” Anna said.

  “Can you try again?” Mel asked. Anna’s holographic head nodded, and Polly whirred to life and zipped out the door. Mel turned back to the others. “We can discuss it more while we wait, but the arguments for and against are on the table. We need to make a decision.”

  After several more minutes of talking, even Beats agreed to the idea. Jon was positively enthusiastic and Riley’s biggest problem was that Gem would be replacing him.

  “So, that’s six of us. I can’t imagine Gorgeous having a problem, but we should still let her have a say. What the hell is taking them so long? Anna, have you found her yet?” Anna started to shake her head and then stopped, her expression replaced with a sudden look of horror.

  Mel frowned. “Anna? What—”

  “Get down to the training hall. Hurry. Gorgeous is trying to kill herself and I can’t stop her.”

  ***

  Mel had never felt such panic. She hobbled as fast as she could with the crutches, feeling them rub the skin under her arms raw. Riley threw his crutches away, running on his hands and one good leg like a wounded cat. He wasn’t nearly as fast as normal, but still easily outpaced Mel. Beats and Jon were right behind Riley, leaving Mel to bring up the rear.

  The others crashed through the doors to the training area while Mel was still at the end of the hallway and she couldn’t see what was happening. She hobbled faster, cursing her stupid leg and the crutches and Gorgeous. What was she thinking?

  Mel finally got to the door, and pushed herself in just in time to see Riley leaping through the air using his one good leg. Gorgeous hung from a rope, fifteen feet off the ground. Her face was a chalky red-white and her feet still thrashed in the air, her hands gripped tightly to the rope around her neck.

  Riley tackled Gorgeous in midair and they swung sideways. The rope above Gorgeous wasn’t long enough for them to swing to the tower, and Riley’s extra weight just put more pressure on Gorgeous’s throat. Mel could hear the gurgle from across the room. But Riley immediately pulled himself upwards, deftly climbing up Gorgeous’s body and grabbing the rope with one hand, then wrapping his other hand under Gorgeous’s arms. He pulled up to relieve the pressure from the rope on her neck. Gorgeous hung limply in his arms, her legs no longer twitching, her head hanging downwards.

  “Oh God, Gorgeous,” Mel said. “Someone help Riley! Get her down.”

  Even Beats was too short to reach Gorgeous’s feet. Everyone looked around the room while Riley strained above them. “Hurry up! I can’t tell if she’s breathing,” he yelled.

  Mel turned to Evan. “Get Sheila, now. Go!” She turned to Beats. “Get under her. Jon, climb up Beats’s back and stand on his shoulders. You should be able to reach Gorgeous’s legs.”

  Mel barely registered Evan racing out of the training hall as Beats and Jon moved into place. Instead of waiting for Jon to climb, Beats picked him up and placed him on his shoulders. As Mel had thought, Jon was able to hold her legs.

  “Jon, take her weight. Riley, can you get the noose off her?” Jon grabbed both of Gorgeous’s legs in his arms and lifted slightly, helping Riley. But Gorgeous’s upper body was still falling forward, putting weight on the rope. Riley struggled with it but was unable to clear it from her head with just one hand.

  “Dammit. I can’t get it. The knot is too tight. Maybe I can hang by my good leg…” Riley tried to flip upside down, wrapping his good leg around the rope. But he couldn’t use his bad leg to lock it into place and he immediately started slipping.

  Mel swore and looked around the room. Her eyes fell on the firing range, and she hobbled over and grabbed a pistol. She swiveled back and yelled up to Riley. “Get clear!” He looked down to see her pointing the pistol in his direction and quickly pulled himself further up.

  She fired three shots, each one hitting the rope just above Gorgeous’s head. The final string parted and Gorgeous dropped forward, throwing Jon off balance as he tried to catch her weight. Beats reacted quickly, catching both Jon and Gorgeous and lowering them to the ground.

  Evan ran back into the room with Sheila behind him. The Chaturee rushed over to Gorgeous, deftly removing the rope. The skin around Gorgeous’s neck was bright white where the rope had been. Her eyes were a dull olive green, and Mel couldn’t tell if she was breathing.

  “How is she?”

  “Bad,” Sheila muttered. “Evan, give me the syringe and the adrenaline. The blue vial. No, no, the light blue one.”

  Sheila fumbled the syringe as Evan handled her the medicine. “How long was she up there?”

  Mel turned to Polly. “Anna, how long was it?”

  “She jumped when I came in. Eight seconds before Riley grabbed her. His initial jump may have made it worse for two seconds, then the weight came off. That’s when she passed out. Another twelve seconds of just the rope around her neck with no weight on it. But it was still tight.”

  “She was still awake while hanging from the rope?” Sheila asked as she placed the vial into the syringe device.

  “Yes. She was thrashing her legs the whole time.”

  “Good, hopefully there isn’t any spinal damage.” Sheila plunged the needle into Gorgeous’s skin, just below the armpit.

  “This should reactivate her heart and breathing. She’s been unconscious for about a minute. If we can bring her back quickly, she shouldn’t have any brain damage.”

  Staring at Gorgeous’s still form, Mel willed her to wake up. Why had Gorgeous done this? She had been moody and withdrawn for days. The strange behavior. They had argued this morning. Mel had meant to talk to her, but hadn’t. If she had been there for Gorgeous, this wouldn’t have happened.

  Riley climbed down from the rope and stood on his good leg, leaning against Beats for support. He put a hand on Mel’s shoulder. “I know what you’re thinking, Mel. This isn’t your fault.”

  “I should have talked to her. It’s what you said. We should be a team, but I was only thinking of myself.”

  Riley sighed. “I didn’t mean…. Look, it doesn’t matter. We’re all friends with Gorgeous. We’ll figure this out together. We’ll help her. Okay? It’s not just on you. That’s what I meant this morning.”

  Mel looked at Riley, and it finally sunk in. She didn’t have to do it alone. Maybe she finally did understand what he had been trying to say. Nodding, she knelt beside Gorgeous.

  “How is she?” she asked Sheila.

  “It’s working. You can see the color returning to her eyes,” Sheila said with a satisfied smile. “Why did this silly person try to kill herself? Suicide is very harmful, not good at all.” Mel laughed feebly as Gorgeous’s chest rose and fell. Sheila had horrible bedside manner, but she meant well. Picking up Gorgeous’s hand, she held it tight.

  “No, it’s not good. But she’s okay. We’ll help her.” Mel stroked Gorgeous’s long hair. She could hear the alien girl breathing in a ragged rasp and looked questioning at Sheila.

  “We should get her back to our makeshift hospital. She’s damaged her throat and I need to check for spinal injuries. I wish we had a nuclear sequence grapher,” Sheila said.

  Mel turned to Beats. “Can you carry her? I want to come, too. I don’t want to leave her.”

  Beats shrugged. “I’ll carry you both.”

  ***

  Gorgeous wok
e briefly, her lips moving but no sound coming out. Sheila gave her a sedative, and the alien girl drifted off as Mel held her hand. Massive bruising around her throat and neck showed up in her species as a white discoloration. Much to Sheila’s annoyance, Mel had only let go of Gorgeous’s hand once, while Sheila tried to determine if there were any spinal injuries by touch.

  After Sheila finished her examination, she thought Gorgeous hadn’t sustained any permanent injuries. Hours later, Mel sat in an uncomfortable chair next to the bed, staring impassively at the rise and fall of her friend’s chest. Thinking was difficult; she was both exhausted and numb. Why hadn’t she seen the signs earlier? No, she had seen them. She had just ignored it.

  It was Kathor.

  Jumping at the voice, she glanced quickly around, but the room was empty. Shaking her head, she looked at Gorgeous, who was still fast asleep.

  The reflex drugs cause psychosis. This time it was a thought, clear and strong in her mind.

  “What do you mean? What—”

  The door swung open suddenly. “Is this a bad time?” Gem said. Without waiting for a reply, she swung forward on her long front arms.

  Mel jumped again, holding a hand to her chest. She took a deep breath, realizing who it was.

  “How are you?” Gem asked

  “I’m fine. Just tired. I think I started talking to myself.”

  Gem squatted next to Mel. “Perhaps a sign that you are a good conversationalist.”

  Mel laughed, but shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. That ghostly voice had sounded like someone standing right next to her.

  “I just had a thought,” Mel said. “Kathor, the Asadharan that kidnapped us, gave Gorgeous some kind of performance enhancing drug a few months ago. It helped her learn faster, but Anna said that it had side effects, that it may cause psychotic episodes. I was just thinking that might explain what’s been going on with Gorgeous. She’s been acting strange for a while now. Confused.”

  Gem’s eyes blinked rapidly, which the translators said was her nodding. That made sense because the Akshay barely had necks and Mel doubted that Gem could even move her head up and down… or side to side, for that matter.