Junkyard Pirate

by Jamie McFarlane

  “It talks. How touching.” Sawyer said, pulling a silver pistol from his belt.

  “Don’t do it.” AJ pushed himself protectively between Jayne and the gun. “We’re not involved in any of this. You can look around and take whatever you want. Just don’t get crazy here.”

  AJ’s world slowed as the gun in Sawyer’s hand bucked. A searing pain in his side warned him he’d been hit. A second shot erupted from the gun. His mind reeled with confusion as, for a moment, he was transported back to ‘Nam.

  “AJ!” Beverly’s scream felt as if it would burst his eardrums. Instinctively, AJ brought his hands to his ears.

  “Shit, woman!” AJ said as the pain from the shout momentarily eclipsed the pain in his side.

  “So, you do have a Beltigersk hitchhiker,” Sawyer said, stepping on AJ’s arm and pulling it away from his ear. “I wondered how desperate they would have to get before going all native. Are you a new survey crew? One that got missed by the big boys?” He appeared to be attempting to speak directly to Beverly. “Doesn’t matter. They’ll pay a king’s ransom either way.”

  A low, angry growl sounded from behind Sawyer. AJ’s eyes fell on Greybeard, who’d hobbled out of the machine shed. Sawyer rolled his eyes as he turned toward the dog. Greybeard reared back on his two good legs and launched himself at the intruder. Snarling teeth chomped down into flesh. The dog was acting like he had a gopher, violently jerking his body back and forth like he was trying to break its neck. Sawyer howled in pain and anger as he spun, trying to remove the animal.

  AJ used the distraction and crawled to his wheelchair, ignoring Beverly chirping in his ear. Fumbling around, his hand closed on the drill-driver that had fallen out of the chair with him. A third shot exploded from Sawyer’s gun and Greybeard yelped.

  “Dammit! That stupid dog ruined my good suit,” Sawyer exclaimed, having fallen to the ground next to Greybeard. “Those things cost a fortune. And now my meat-sack host is gonna have a limp. And what the hell are you doing?”

  AJ had his pocket knife out and was furiously working on the top of the heavy battery he’d extracted from the drill. He dared a glance at the fallen Sawyer and skooched toward him, slamming the ruined battery pack against the man’s chest. At first nothing happened.

  Sawyer swung the gun around, backhanding AJ.

  AJ nearly blacked out from the blow, but he stayed focused, adjusting his grip on the battery, slamming it once again against Sawyer’s chest. The pocketknife, which he’d wedged just right, was trapped between the battery and Sawyer. The blade broke through the shirt and penetrated the skin. When he felt the knife heat up, he realized his mistake. With a jiggle, AJ moved the knife off just enough that it only contacted one of the exposed terminals. The other terminal was just a loose wire and AJ pressed down to ensure it was deeply embedded in the man’s skin. Sawyer’s eyes rolled up in his head and he stiffened as AJ’s drill battery discharged into the man’s chest.

  “What did you do?” Beverly asked, hovering in front of AJ.

  AJ withdrew the battery and showed it to her. “The external layer of human skin is a great insulator. If you get past that outer layer, it’s another thing entirely. I imagine I stopped his heart.”

  “You have caused a significant electrical surge,” Beverly said, floating next to Sawyer and pointing at his face as a sticky wad of what resembled phlegm oozed out from behind his eyes. “That Korgul has ejected.”

  AJ brushed a handful of dirt atop the Korgul as it oozed away from them. “Hold on there, buddy,” he said and reached for his coffee thermos that had fallen to the ground.

  “Don’t touch it,” Beverly warned. “It can release a highly toxic paralytic.”

  “Noted.” AJ dumped his coffee out and scooped the Korgul into the thermos. With a twist, he sealed the disgusting alien away. “Think he can get out of that?”

  “You are a surprisingly creative problem solver, Albert Jenkins,” Beverly said. “No. The Korgul have limited physical capabilities when outside of a host.”

  AJ crawled over to where Jayne lay bleeding from both a chest wound and from her head. “Beverly, you gotta help her. She’s gonna die.”

  “Amanda Jayne is not conscious,” she said. “It is impossible to request her acceptance.”

  “Dammit! She’ll die before an ambulance can get here,” AJ said, searching her clothing for a phone.

  “What are you doing?” Jayne croaked, pushing at AJ. “Get off me.”

  “Doc. Wake up!” he yelled as he rolled her onto her back.

  “Can’t.” Jayne’s voice was a whisper, her head lolling to the side.

  “I need you to wake up!” AJ jabbed his finger into the bullet wound on her chest.

  Her eyes flew open. “Ahhh!”

  “Amanda, stay with me for just a minute,” AJ said. “This is going to sound weird. There’s an alien who can help you, but you gotta agree to it. It’s not bad. They’re trying to get home and need our help. I need you to say yes.”

  Jayne’s eyes started to close and she slumped. AJ jabbed into her wound again. “Amanda! Listen to me. Say yes. You need to agree to let the little alien bond with you. I’m telling you, they’re the good guys.”

  Jayne blinked. “You need to stop poking me,” she said, her voice weary. “I’m not doing anything freaky with an alien.”

  “They can help you,” he said. “Don’t you want to know why I’m getting better? Say yes, Amanda.”

  “Does it hurt?” she asked, her voice sounding like a little girl.

  “You’ll die if you don’t say yes.”

  “Well, that sounds bad. I don’t want to hurt anymore,” Jayne said in the same little girl’s voice and slumped to the side. This time when AJ jabbed at her wound, she did not respond.

  “Dammit, Beverly, that’s it. She agreed. You heard her,” AJ said.

  “It was coerced,” Beverly said. “You were hurting her and promised to make it stop.”

  “Bullshit,” AJ said. “I woke her up. The bullet wound was hurting her. What’s the big deal? She’s dead otherwise.”

  Beverly floated in front of AJ and looked over to Jayne nervously. “What if it is not what she wishes?"

  Greybeard woofed mournfully as only an old bulldog could and hobbled over to the prone woman. With his broad tongue, he licked at the wide gash across her forehead and laid his thick neck across the wound.

  "Shit, Beverly, do something!" AJ demanded.

  "Mr. AJ?" AJ started at the sound of Diego's voice behind him. "Are you okay? Where is your phone? I will call 911."

  Amanda Jayne sucked in a short breath and coughed shallowly. AJ's eyes cut to Diego. In his panicked state, he hadn't considered calling 911. Rolling onto his side, he fumbled through his pockets, looking for his phone, finally finding it.

  "You must stop, AJ," Beverly said, standing on his chest with her hand held out like she was directing traffic.

  "Need an ambulance," AJ said, punching in the simple digits and pressing the call button. He stared at the phone as it worked to make the connection.

  "Jack 903218876-1-J has bonded with Amanda Jayne at great risk to himself," Beverly said. "We must work quickly to keep her from death."

  A moment later a ten-inch tall, muscular, olive-skinned man with straight dark hair appeared, kneeling on Jayne's chest wearing a white lab coat. "Well done, Albert Jenkins," Jack said in a British accent. "I believe with all that has happened here, Earth's emergency services would attract the sort of attention we cannot afford. Be a good chap and form a compress on the good doctor's chest wound. Seamus seems to have the head wound covered and I'm quite busy clearing clots in the old girl's noggin."

  AJ stared at his phone which had yet to connect with 911 operators. Tossing it aside, he jammed the palm of his hand into Jayne’s chest wound. "Diego, go to the house. My medical bag is in the closet next to the paper towels." The words were barely out of his mouth before Diego sprinted off.

  "I'll need you to follow my instructions
precisely, AJ," Jack continued, giving AJ a reassuring smile.

  "To do what?"

  "Our priority is to stop blood loss," Jack answered. "Before that can be accomplished, you'll need to see to that sucking chest wound. I assume from your extended military service that you are familiar with gunshot wounds?"

  "Sure," AJ said. "Is this where you have me poke a hole and drain fluid?"

  "Good," Jack said. "I'll walk you through the steps."

  The moments spent waiting for Diego to return seemed to last a lifetime. "Here, Mr. AJ," Diego called, holding the bag in front of him as he ran.

  "Open the bag and dump it on the ground." AJ forced his voice to be calm as he spoke to the frightened boy. Diego complied and AJ grabbed a thick bandage from the pile and peeled off the wrapping. "Good. Doctor Jayne is losing blood. We can stop it by holding this bandage in place. Are you doing okay? Can you hold it in place?"

  Diego looked at AJ uncertainly and placed his hand tentatively on the bandage. "Like this?" he asked.

  "You gotta really press it in there," AJ said, pushing on the back of Diego's hands. "Just like that."

  "What happened, Mr. AJ? Who is the bad man in the suit?" Diego asked. "Why did he hurt the lady?"

  "I'm not exactly sure." AJ grabbed a pair of scissors and cut off Jayne's shirt. He stopped for a moment as his eyes fell on surgical scars below her breasts. "Damn, Doc, good for you, beating that shit." With skin open, AJ strapped surgical tape over the bandage to hold it in place.

  "Doctor Jayne suffers from advanced lymphoma," Beverly said, hovering into view as AJ sat back on his mostly useless legs. "Jack will address this issue over time."

  "Can we move her?" AJ asked.

  "That is unnecessary," Beverly said.

  AJ pointed around the two vehicles to the open gate. A small lane of visibility existed where a person could potentially observe the situation. "We're lucky no one saw this go down," AJ said. "Tell me why we're not already crawling with Korgul-infested meat bags?"

  "I do not appreciate your reference to the unwilling human victims as meat bags," Beverly answered.

  "Diego, set that wheelchair up and roll it over next to Dr. Jayne." AJ turned his attention back to Beverly. "Answer the question, BB."

  Beverly sighed with exasperation. "Korgul do not communicate with the same regularity as humans. Most of the Korgul are individuals or part of small groups. We have not yet identified which Korgul corporations operate on Earth. Gathering this information is part of our mission."

  "You're talking out of two sides of your mouth," AJ said. "Small groups and corporations are two different ideas."

  "You are correct," Beverly said. "The Korgul corporations offer financial incentives for Fantastium and Blastorium gathering. They would pay a considerable sum for the recovery of a Beltigerskian survey crew."

  AJ pointed to the man who'd attacked them. "This guy could be working alone?"

  "He suggested he looked forward to a reward for our capture," Beverly said. "It is likely he works alone."

  "Even if he doesn't have buddies, the first person to see bodies back here will call the cops," AJ said.

  "Amanda Jayne will survive a move," Jack said, appearing next to Beverly. "You should seek not to cause additional damage."

  "Diego, help me get her into the chair," AJ said. "We need to get her to the house."

  "You should call a doctor, Mr. AJ," Diego said.

  "We might," AJ said, pushing on the dog. "You gotta move, Greybeard."

  "Seamus staunched the flow of blood from her forehead," Jack said.

  "Seamus is one of you and he bonded with a dog?" AJ asked.

  "A last-ditch sacrifice," Beverly said. "Bonding with a non-sentient significantly limits one of our kind. It is not something that is done lightly."

  Greybeard tipped his head back and barked a couple times before lumbering away from Jayne. His chin and belly were covered with blood, but the bleeding from Jayne's forehead had slowed significantly.

  "Who are you talking to?" Diego finally asked. "I know it isn’t me. Are you seeing things, Mr. AJ?"

  AJ smiled and tried to replay the conversations he'd had with the Beltigerskians. "Just working some things through, kid. Lock the wheels, we need to move the doc inside."

  Jayne groaned but didn’t regain consciousness as the two worked together to pull her into the chair.

  "I will be back in a moment," Diego said as he wheeled the thin woman toward AJ's house.

  "Put her on my bed," AJ said. "Make sure to lock those wheels in place first, though."

  "What of this man?" Beverly asked, pointing at Sawyer's inert form.

  "Yeah, it’s gonna be tough explaining how he died without attracting a lot of attention."

  "He is not dead, AJ. He is unconscious and suffers from an arrhythmic heart," Beverly said.

  "So why did the snot-ball leave?" AJ asked.

  "The sudden jolt of electricity would have been quite painful to the Korgul," Beverly said. "It would not have survived a second such shock."

  "Greybeard, think you can help me drag this dude over to the fence?" AJ asked, scooching across the ground.

  "What are you thinking, AJ?" Beverly asked.

  "Work with me," AJ grunted as he pulled on the considerably heavier Sawyer.

  Greybeard hobbled over, latched onto the man's clothing and pulled. The going was slow. They were only able to move the unconscious Sawyer in small spurts, but it was progress. Several minutes into the task, AJ was covered with sweat. Moving his own body as well as Sawyer's had quickly sapped his strength.

  "The doctor is on your bed," Diego said as he rejoined AJ. Without asking, the boy pitched in and helped drag the unconscious man further toward the gate.

  "Remember how to drive?" AJ asked.

  "Yes," Diego said suspiciously.

  AJ patted Sawyer's pockets, extracted his keys and tossed them to the boy. "I want you to run into my gate again, but not too hard."

  "What?" Diego asked.

  "Trust me," AJ said. "But help me into the chair first."

  Moving for the first time since the shooting and subsequent electrocution, Sawyer simultaneously sucked in a breath and grabbed for his chest, his eyes fluttering open. AJ grabbed a fist-sized rock and knocked the man in the forehead, dropping him back to unconsciousness.

  "AJ!" Beverly yelped in surprise at the quick turn of events. "He was waking up. He's not under control of Korgul."

  AJ grabbed at his chair and with Diego's help twisted around to a seated position. "Now the car, Diego," AJ said, ignoring Beverly's outburst. Diego smiled as understanding dawned on him. "Make sure to wipe any blood or dirt from your hands before you get in."

  "You are staging an accident?" Beverly asked.

  "How much will Sawyer remember from his time under Korgul control?" AJ asked.

  "Most of it," Beverly said. "He will have difficulty rectifying why he took such a passive role in his own actions. It is likely he will not remember any of today's events, however. The separation from the Korgul will be quite traumatic for him, even though it is in his interest."

  "I need to get cleaned up," AJ said, rolling toward the house. "Do you suppose you could interface with his car and set off his airbags once Diego is done?"

  "I will," Beverly said.

  AJ didn't turn when he heard the clatter of the bumper against the gate post. "Is that okay?" Diego called, sliding out of the car.

  "It's like you've had practice," AJ called back.

  Eleven

  Misery Loves Company

  "Let me get this straight," the uniformed officer said. "This guy ran into your gate, then got out of his car and passed out?"

  AJ shrugged. "Wasn't out there. I just saw what you're seeing."

  "You want to explain why your arms are all scraped up?" The officer's intuition was telling him something was off.

  "I fell out of my chair when I got to the bottom of the ramp," AJ said. "I wasn't expecting to see a dead guy."<
br />
  "He's not dead," the officer said.

  "That's what he looked like to me. I couldn't even find a pulse," AJ said.

  "The victim had a pretty good knot on his head," the officer said, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "Do you know anything about that?"

  "Let me see, guy runs off the road into my fence and stumbles out of his car. Seems like a rich environment for getting his head banged up." AJ allowed irritation to creep into his voice. "Who’s gonna pay for my fence?"

  The officer ripped off a note and handed it to AJ. "Once we complete the investigation, your insurance company can get a copy of the report using the case number at the top of that sheet. I'll be honest with you, Mr. Jenkins. I feel like something's off here. I just can't put my finger on it. Are you sure you don't want to amend your statement?"

  "Look man, I'm laid up in a wheelchair. What the hell do you think I did?" AJ asked. "How about you ask the dumb-ass who ran over my gate. Better yet, grab his phone and see who he was texting."

  The officer sighed and held out a business card. "If you think of anything else, I'd appreciate a call."

  AJ waved his hand dismissively and watched the officer exit, the screen door banging behind him.

  The officer continued to look for clues of foul play around the wrecked vehicle. Forty minutes later, a tow truck finally showed up and took the car away, the police leaving shortly thereafter.

  "We're screwed," AJ finally said.

  Beverly appeared, sitting in front of a computer screen which displayed flowing green numerals closely resembling something from The Matrix. Interrupting her typing on the virtual keyboard, she snagged Cheetos from an open bag and shoved them in her mouth. "Not if his case file gets lost in the system," she cackled.

  "You can do that?"

  She withdrew a particularly long Cheeto and held it like a cigar. "Vee have our vays," she said, adopting a ridiculous German accent.

  AJ shook his head and pushed toward the back bedroom where Diego had put Dr. Jayne. "How's she doing?" he asked Jayne’s new Beltigerskian sentient, Jack, who sat in a simple wooden chair atop the bedside table.