by Isla Monroe
RESCUED BY THE ALIEN
© Copyright 2018 Isla Monroe
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Table of contents
Chapter one
Chapter two
Chapter three
Chapter four
Chapter five
Chapter six
Chapter seven
Chapter eight
Chapter nine
Chapter ten
Chapter eleven
Chapter twelve
Chapter thirteen
Chapter fourteen
Chapter one
Gemini
It had been two months of tedious work around the clock. It was necessary from time to time for those under my command to blow off some steam. This was where Jackson, my lab assistant, found his purpose. All work and no play made everybody on edge.
“You’re going to have to make an appearance. A leader needs to show them that they are still human. Having a few drinks isn’t going to hurt you.” The state of the morale had diminished slightly with rumors swirling about what had happened to Michael Bryant.
His death was still a little mysterious. I wasn’t entirely convinced the answer was his declining health. I was positive it had something to do with it. I had no other leads to pursue.
“I know my responsibilities better than anyone. I’ve never been comfortable in social gatherings. I feel more at home reading a good book.” I had several volumes scattered in disarray on my floor with no discernible method to my madness.
“They need to see you acting like one of them, Ma’am. I’m not asking you to jump on the table and dance with a lampshade on your head. You can nurse one drink all night.” Jackson was very convincing.
There was no doubt in his ability to get people to do strange and stupid things. It wasn’t hard to recognize life was fleeting. Living a little would mean that I was alive. It was something I needed to remind the others. It was a sacrifice but one that I was willing to make.
“I will make an appearance. I can’t promise anything more than that.” I would show up fashionably late when the drinks were already flowing.
“I’m holding you to that. Everybody has been walking around on eggshells wondering when the other shoe is going to drop. This place is a powder keg ready to explode.” I did feel the tension in the air thick enough to cut with a knife.
My sleeping quarters were located behind my office. The wall of my office was adorned with several accolades mocking me with accusing fingers. They were a stark reminder of what kind of person I had become. This position made it necessary for me to stick my head out of the sand.
“I’ve tried to lead by example. It’s not easy when my command is marred by the death of a colleague.” Michael’s body was in a cryogenic chamber sealed off from the rest of the station.
“They can’t fault you for doing your best. I’ve given them my unbiased opinion about your leadership. Security is reporting directly to me any possible instigators. Our presence is answered with questioning eyes. I’ve done what I can to be more approachable.” Jackson had taken it upon himself to prevent people from going stir crazy.
“Space has the tendency to bring about cases of claustrophobia. Melissa has already reported that two members of the crew have come down with it. I don’t want it to become an epidemic.” I felt like the uniform didn’t fit and it had nothing to do with the size.
“I have it on good authority there are those getting a little too intimate. It’s bound to happen. So far, it has been limited to different departments. Physical interactions have been frowned upon. You said nothing about enforcing the unwritten rule.” I was afraid this was going to happen, but getting rid of the pent-up frustration was a good thing.
There was one crew member that made me feel butterflies in my stomach. Lionel was the head scientist in charge of a staff of two and working on the most dangerous of diseases the human mind could come up with. I couldn’t explain why I felt fluttered around him. I made it my mission to keep him at a distance.
I had barely seen Lionel. Those times we did bump into each other were memorable. I stumbled over my words without meaning to. The effect was instantaneous like two polar opposites of a magnet coming in contact with one another. He was the bright spot in an otherwise cloudy day.
“Is there anything more to report on what happened to Michael?” His hard drive was fried beyond recognition.
“We’ve run into a dead end. I believe it was an isolated case.” I wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince himself or me.
One hair was out of place on his head. He was usually more meticulous about his appearance. To see him lose his composure made me understand his request for a night off. The stress of the job had been weighing heavily on his mind. It was my job to remind him of the bigger picture.
“I would really love to believe you. The prevailing opinion from the independent investigators on earth is that he suffered a breakdown due to the illness. They want me to treat it as an anomaly. I get a little sick and tired of their interference. They have no idea what goes on up here without stepping into my shoes.” I ran my hand along the edges of my mahogany desk.
The staid environment had been given a facelift. I incorporated several of those personal touches to give it a semblance of home. Photos of my parents were smiling with pride. My graduation photo had me wondering how naïve and clueless I was at that age.
I had consulted with the one person with any sense of taste and style. The throw rug was of Persian descent. Tina wasn’t very subtle about her dislike for me. It was written across her face in metaphorical bold red ink. She was carrying a torch for Lionel. People talked and I listened.
The windows were still my favorite part. It reminded me of how small and insignificant we really were. I had my telescope in stainless steel setup by the window. It was calibrated to the highest setting. I didn’t know what I would see, but it was a comfort to have it in reach.
My job wasn’t hard once I learned how to delegate my authority. It was the matter of whether or not I could find someone to pawn off the little things. I had no choice but listen to them gripe and try to come up with suitable solutions. My inner circle consisted of five individuals.
Jackson, Lionel, Tina, and William rounded off those within the soundproof environment. It was my understanding everything said was under the cloak of being classified. We could talk about anything without casting judgment on one another.
I had the freedom to express myself during those daily meetings. Lionel didn’t have to say one word to make me feel uncomfortable in my own skin. One look and I was practically ready to throw myself onto the table in a
compromising position.
The added stress of having the committee from Earth looking over my shoulder was bringing about strange side effects. My temper had flared up a few times with very little provocation. It felt like I was running hot and cold at the same time. There were moments I wanted to thrash somebody for the smallest thing.
“I have this overwhelming need to punch someone. I need to find some way to manage the stress. You might be the only one who knows what I’m going through. Being in charge of security can’t be an easy position. Laws and regulations are there for a reason.” I could’ve used a punching bag to get rid of this access baggage.
There was a room dedicated to recreational activities. Everyone was allotted one hour a day. I took my time at the crack of dawn.
Training and making my body into a temple was usually pretty easy. I couldn’t concentrate on my breathing. It became an exercise in futility. Nothing was easy.
“Stay calm and take a breath.” I didn’t realize I was holding onto the desk with my fingers turning white with the effort.
“They have been a thorn in my side for too long. I’m tired of the second guessing all of my decisions. I’m restless. I barely get 4 hours of sleep at night. I need to function with a degree of professionalism. I might have to resort to drastic measures of a pharmaceutical aid.” I didn’t even know why I was giving my parents a special spot on the desk.
They did very little to mold me into the woman I was. They were of the belief that was my job. It was hard to see at the time how it was good for me to step out of my comfort zone.
“I’m going to get you some herbal tea with some honey. Sit down before you explode. You’ve always been a stickler for details. You don’t always have to tell them everything. Why give them the ammunition to consider demoting you and giving the leadership to somebody else?” Jackson had become instrumental in making this position my own.
“I doubt it’s going to help. I’ve been a ticking time bomb the last two weeks. I can’t count the number of times I had one of the staff in my sights. I’m fearful it’s going to take one small thing to push me over the edge.” I was finding out what I was made of and I wasn’t happy with the reflection looking back at me in the mirror.
“A person can’t live on 4 hours of sleep a night. If you’re not careful, you might start to hallucinate and become a danger to yourself and others. The best remedy is to close your eyes. I will make sure that you’re not disturbed for any reason.” He put his hand on my shoulder and I got this vivid image of breaking his fingers one at a time.
It gave me a certain thrill, unlike anything I had felt before. It was a blissful notion to see him in pain writhing in agony before me. It was wrong, but it fell right. Turning my wrath on him wasn’t going to help, but I did find the idea appealing.
“It would be best for you to go back out the same way you came. I do need some time to myself. It’s not unreasonable. I really wouldn’t make great company. I can’t be like this at the party.” I could see myself lording over him in a superior position.
My bare feet were touching the Persian carpet. I performed an exercise to settle my nerves. Clenching my toes and then releasing them made me breathe a little easier. I put my head in my hands and tried to block out any outside influence.
I felt this pressure building up inside of me. A red-hot rage took control over my good sense. I got up and was prepared to hurt him. It was too late to find that outlet.
He wasn’t there and the clock on the wall was ticking incessantly. I was momentarily blinded by the reality. I couldn’t understand how 1 hour had elapsed within minutes. It had happened in the blink of an eye. There was no rhyme or reason.
The cup of tea was on my desk and I had no idea how it got there. It was lukewarm. The pleasing aroma did nothing to dissuade the feeling of being manipulated. The room was silent with only my breathing. My heart was racing a million miles an hour. I was compelled to run a marathon. Nothing made any sense.
This wasn’t the first time I had lost time. It was becoming more frequent and I didn’t seem to care. I should’ve gone looking for medical attention, but I didn’t.
I felt this darkness surround me like a warm blanket. It was a little unnerving. The feeling was clouding my judgment. I woke up every hour on the hour. Pacing the station was becoming a bad habit during the witching hour.
I heard the sound of wood cracking. My fingernails had slivers underneath my nails. It was like Paper Mache in my hands. I curled my fists and turned pieces of wood into sawdust. It flowed easily through my fingers.
I was never in better shape. I looked down at the cut I had received earlier in the expedition. It still itched like crazy from time to time.
I looked at it in the light and I could’ve sworn something moved. It was a flicker and then it was gone.
I had the best medical mind on board. Melissa with her tattoos on her face didn’t exactly have the best bedside manner. She was all business without getting personal.
I had been meaning to talk to Melissa, but the timing wasn’t right. That was an excuse. I didn’t want her poking and prodding me like something you would find under a microscope. I was not a specimen for the fascination of science.
Chapter two
Lionel
I had to continually distract myself every time we had daily meetings. I didn’t want her to know the feeling that she inflicted on me every time that we were in close proximity. I was still worried.
My ability to do my job wasn’t in question. I could separate my personal feelings from my work, unlike most people. Once I stepped into the lab everything disappeared except for those samples. Tina was still giving me the cold shoulder. It was her way of making me feel guilty for not giving her the attention she demanded.
“When are you going to tell her about this? I would never go over your head. We are here to conduct these experiments, but our samples have inexplicably been destroyed. Only five remain and they are barely still intact.” I had been trying to keep it quiet, but it wasn’t easy when they were too many cooks in the kitchen.
“I want to have something more conclusive to report. There’s no explanation for how the samples have been contaminated. It’s almost as if something was introduced like some kind of foreign body. I haven’t found a damn thing and it’s frustrating.” I was dressed in the protective gear with my entire body covered from head to toe.
My gloved hands were performing a delicate task. They were in the process of conducting an experiment to see if there was anything I had missed. It didn’t seem likely. I wasn’t exactly known to be less than thorough.
“I haven’t found anything during our scans. It doesn’t appear to have spread to the rest of the station. It’s a small saving grace it has been localized to the samples. You can’t tell me you don’t feel that in the air. It’s a foreboding sense of danger.” I thought I was the only one with my physiology highly attuned to anything out of the ordinary.
“We have a multitude of precautions in place. This is a sterile environment. We have these protocols in place. The probability of anything happening outside of this lab is astronomical. I’ve dedicated my life to my work.” I had been feeling like somebody was watching over me and it wasn’t my guardian angel.
The blue protective gear made moving a slow and annoying process. My people had been working long hours to find a simple solution. There wasn’t any. Something was obviously going on and I had yet to figure it out. It wasn’t like me not to be able to pin down something out of the ordinary.
My hands were like a surgeon’s steady and calm despite the pressure. The answers were there. The scientific proof couldn’t hide from me forever. The last five samples were degrading quicker than predicted. At this rate, there was not going to be any samples to work with by the end of the week.
“I want to go on the record to say that it’s not a good idea to keep this from the captain.” It wasn’t really a title, but it was something to give us a firm idea of the chain of command.
“I’ve been avoiding this for too long. I will be talking with the inner sanctum in less than an hour. I have to wonder what their reaction is going to be. I have a feeling a lot of people are going to be relieved to know these samples are gone. What they don’t realize is that there could be something even worse at work here.” Organisms didn’t just die especially in a contained lab.
“William has a few ideas. He’s under the insane notion there’s something at work here with a sentient mind. I know it sounds preposterous. We’ve exhausted all other measures.” William was always talking to himself underneath his breath and having conversations which would’ve made any psychiatrist a little nervous.
He was punctual to a fault. I tried to show up earlier than everybody else, but he always beat me to the punch. My attempt to blend in over the last few years had varying degrees of success. It wasn’t easy to understand their weaknesses. Fragile and easily broken wasn’t something I was used to.