by Geoff Brown
But that’s where all normalcy ended.
Beside the Rev at the bottom of the operating theater was a nine-foot monstrosity that had been chained to a metal cross, crucified. The Cray’s hands and feet had been removed, as had its knee and elbow spikes. Part of its chest and legs were raw with open wounds that seeped blood. Its head hung, not with the predatory gaze to which I’d become so keenly accustomed, but instead into something whipped into submission, light gone, soul caged, much like the look I’d often seen in Suzie’s single eye.
And as much as I hated the Cray, to see it treated like this brought forth my fury.
The Reverend spoke, “Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this flesh to offer, which you hath given and human hands hath made. It will become for us the bread of life.”
He pulled a knife from the side of his altar and cut a chunk of meat from the Cray’s thigh.
The alien mewled, screeching only once at its agony. By the look of its wounds, this was far from the first time.
“Flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood,” the Reverend said as he drained blood from the meat into a goblet.
Then the congregation said, “Blessed be God forever.”
“Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this wine to offer, fruit of your divine intervention. It will become our spiritual drink. Flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood.”
I almost wretched as I watched the Reverend take a bite from the meat, ripping at it with his teeth, then taking a sip of the blood to wash it down. I was seeing a profane version of the Eucharist.
The Reverend placed the meat on a silver tray and a woman came, took the goblet and the tray and began to pass it around. One after the other, the members of this unholy congregation took a bite of the Cray’s thigh and drank from the cup, crossing themselves, then lowering their heads in prayer when they were done.
As the offering passed from one to the other, the Reverend prayed. “Pray, my brothers and sisters, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.”
“May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands,” the congregation said.
“Pray that He shall protect us and come down upon these invaders like He did with Noah and the Great Flood.”
“May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands.”
“Pray, my brothers and sisters, that the Earth will be once again cleansed and returned to the hands of the faithful.”
“May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands.”
I’d been searching for Suzie throughout the entire farce. It wasn’t until the end that I saw her, locked in a cell behind the crucified alien. Even across the great space between us, I could see her looking at me, her mouth moving over and over speaking something silently. It took me a moment to make it out and when I did, I smiled.
WWWSD.
Confronted with such a scene, I knew exactly what William Shatner aka Captain James Tiberius Kirk would do. There was a single bible quote I knew and it wasn’t because I went to church. No, it was a quote from my favorite Quinten Tarantino movie and I said it now, filling in the silence where the last of the congregation was eating and drinking of the flesh of the alien, believing that some celestial transubstantiation was making them part of god.
In my best drill sergeant voice, channeling Samuel L Jackson as best I could, I let my voice fill the barn as I cried, “Ezekiel 25:17. “
All eyes snapped to me.
I continued, “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men.”
I pushed DeLorean forward so everyone could get a good look at me. “Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children.”
“What is this intrusion?” demanded the Reverend.
But I shouted even louder and said, “And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers! And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you!”
One side of the Reverend’s face had fallen and no matter how active the other side was, this side refused to move. I knew exactly the cause of it. Stroke. The great leveler. But as still as that side was, the other was animated in fury.
“How dare you blaspheme in this house!” he seemed to try and stand, but failed.
“Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle, old man?”
“Get this blasphemer,” he ordered.
I pushed DeLorean forward. “Anyone comes closer and I’ll blow her away.”
This stopped the man and woman who’d been coming toward me from my left and right.
“I have my finger on the trigger and if anyone so much as shoots me, as I’m falling my body will cause the trigger to be pulled, killing your daughter.”
The Rev stared at me, anger mixing with uncertainty.
“Poor Daddy, doesn’t know what to do,” she said.
“If she has a seizure, you will kill her,” the Reverend said.
“Want me to pretend to have one, Daddy?” she said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “Get rid of me once and for all? I know you hate having me around. I know you wished I wasn’t – what was it you called me – a blaspheming sexpot bitch.”
His face reacted as if he’d been struck as the congregation turned to him. I’m sure the last thing he wanted was for this super-personal soap opera to be playing out.
“You know that’s not what I want,” he said.
“Yes it is, Daddy. I’ve heard you talking with the others.”
“No it is not,” he said, bringing his hand down on his throne, knocking free the bible which fluttered to the feet of the alien. The Rev looked around as if he noticed for the first time that everyone was staring at him. “I just want her to be normal,” he said, frustration filling his words. “I just want you to be normal,” he said to her.
“I am, Daddy. This is the new normal.” She spread her hands. “This is how we cope. You have your way, chowing down on alien lunch meat, and I have mine, trying to replace the images I have in my mind with something closer to love.”
“That’s not love,” he said.
“It’s closer to love than anything you’ve shown me since Mother died,” she cried.
For this he had no response. The Rev slouched back in his chair, head down for several moments. Then, as if it took all of his energy, he raised it. “What is it you want Righteous Man?”
“I want her,” I said, pointing to Suzie.
“Is that all?”
I looked at my helmeted captive and at the congregation, much of them with blood-smeared faces. I knew what I saw was wrong, I knew what they were doing was terrible, but how could I limit their free will? This was their desire. This was their belief. Who was I to stop them? But there was one more thing I could do.
“Free it,” I said.
“What?” he said, staring at his Alien Christ. “That cannot be done.”
“Is this not the blood of Jesus? Is this not his flesh?” I asked.
Several of the congregation nodded, and then looked to the Rev to see his answer.
“Transubstantiation. This thing is not Christ until I say the Eucharist. Then it becomes him.”
“So is it not now Christ?” I asked. “Do you hold your own god captive?”
“It’s more complicated than that,” he said dismissively.
“Let me tell you who I am. I am Benjamin Carter Mason. I am Hero of the Mound. I’m the one who brought down the first hive on the plains of Africa. I’m also the one who became a zombie only to return. Many of you lost family to the spore. I can tell you that they felt and heard everything that happened when they were zombies.”
Several of the congregation sobbed and broke into tears. Probably those who’d been forced to kill those who’d become infected.
“I’m also t
he one who took a squad of mechanized infantry and brought down the Hollywood Hive. I’m the one who went in there. I’m the one who fought Cray – man to alien. I’m the one who blew that hive off the face of the planet. I above all should hate the Cray and god knows I do. But as you say, I am a righteous man. Kirk is a righteous man. And neither of us would allow a creature to be kept in so much pain and suffering.”
I saw both fear and wonder on many faces.
“So yes, I would have this thing be free. So free the damn thing and find something else to pretend to be Jesus then you can eat that too.”
I realized that by the end, I was shouting, especially when the last three words echoed in the silence several times.
“That was impressive,” DeLorean said, her voice empty of the seductress.
“It’s merely the truth,” I said.
“But I don’t get one thing,” she said.
“And what’s that?”
“Who the heck is Kirk?”
“That’s a longer story that I don’t care to tell.”
The Rev gestured for a man to free Suzie from her cell.
I pushed DeLorean down a set of stairs. I met several pairs of eyes as I descended to the bottom. No one was angry. All seemed to be in wonder. These weren’t bad people, they just wanted something to believe in. Anything. Instead of what they’d been doing, I showed them there was a different path. A righteous path. I doubt they’d all follow it, but maybe some would.
At the bottom of the theater/church, I stood but a few feet away from the Rev. Up close I could see how the stroke had ravaged him. He’d looked to have been a large imposing man, but was half that now, his right side totally immobile.
“Do you want your daughter back?” I asked.
“Of course I do,” he said.
“No,” I paused to lend emphasis to my words. “Do you want your daughter back?”
He stared at me.
“It means don’t chain her up in the basement.”
My words caused a few gasps from the congregation.
“It means help her deal with her issues. Let her help you deal with yours. Jesus, at this point don’t you think we can all just get along?”
I glanced at the Cray who seemed to be looking at me as if it understood everything that was going on. I felt a tickle in my brain and knew that a master was trying to communicate through it, perhaps even control me. I fought against it, sending it images of the dead and wounded, hoping each one would be enough of a road block to keep it from doing so.
The Rev looked for a moment as if he was going to do the right thing. Then said instead, “Trap sprung. Amos. Steve. Kill this man. Emma, Frank, Sara, Rolando, Carl, to me.”
The man who had been about to unlock the cell door stopped and stepped away.
Amos and Steve both stood from different places in the congregation. They held pistols, pointing at me. Two men and two women descended the stairs toward us, but of the fifth there was no sign.
“Rolando. Where is Rolando?” cried the Rev.
“If he’s the one I killed in your bedroom, then that’s where he is,” I said. Then I said, “You’re absolutely sure that you want me to kill your daughter?”
He gave me a disbelieving look. “You played your part too well. You said it yourself, you’re a righteous man. Righteous men can’t kill in cold blood. Especially someone like my daughter.”
Damn it, but he was right. I’d played my part too well indeed. I’d never planned on his calling my bluff. I weighed my options as the four drew closer and closer. I snatched my K-bar from its sheath, and sliced away at the tape holding my hand on the weapon. I managed to cut myself doing it, so the tape soon became slick with my blood. But I was able to jerk free of the weapon at the last moment, pushing DeLorean into the oncoming four, while spinning behind the Cray and behind the Rev. I placed the bloodied edge of the knife against his neck and screamed, “STOP!”
And everyone did.
Everyone, except DeLorean, who’d fallen on the ground and was busily trying to free herself from the tape at her throat.
“What now?” asked the Rev. “Look around you. Do you think these people will let you out?”
“I was hoping some would. After all, ‘The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men.’ That’s you, Rev. A tyrannical, evil man. To follow you is to go against the teachings of Ezekiel, of Jesus, and of God.” I felt the heat of a hundred eyes on me, but didn’t turn to look at any of them. “And remember, ‘blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children.’ Who among your congregation believes they are their brother’s keeper? You see, you can’t be both. You can’t be both a righteous man and someone who follows an evil man. That’s like the Ghostbusters crossing the streams. Bad shit happens.”
Then I did turn to look at the congregation.
“Come on. Do the right thing. Stop these people from killing us.”
And then it happened. Not everyone. But some. And those that didn’t made no move to stop those that did. Gently, the men and women around Amos and Steve rose from their places and grabbed them. They were too far away to hear, but they removed their weapons. Amos and Steve were nodding and soon took their seats.
Likewise, a wall of people rose up before me and those coming down the stairs. Again, conversation occurred in hushed tones and again, everyone sat peaceably.
“Come on,” shouted the Rev. “What are you waiting for?”
But the congregation remained silent.
“I think you have your answer,” I said.
I left the Rev and went to the cell door. It was held by a lynch pin, which I removed. Suzie stumbled out and into my arms.
A rope uncurled from the rafters and Crefloe slid down it and landed next to me.
“I was wondering where you were,” I said.
“I was here if you needed me. Seems as if you handled it well with your speechifying.”
“I might have handled it better if you’d been here.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. Doubtful.”
He held out a hand to Suzie. “Will you join me for tea at the top?” he said, doing a poor imitation of a bow.
She looked at me and I nodded.
Soon they were climbing the stairs unmolested.
I went to the back of the cross and saw where the Cray was affixed. It took a few twists to release the chains, but they came free enough. Without the weight of the chains, the Cray fell to its knees. I went in front of it and saw the familiarity in its eyes. Something from somewhere was watching me through them. I took my K-Bar and held it before one of its eyes. It stared at me unblinking. Then I pushed the tip deep into its brain. I felt the tickling gradually vanish as the light left the alien’s eyes.
I glanced at the weapon in my hand and left it where it was. I turned, took one last look at the Rev then marched up the stairs.
It wasn’t until I got to the top that I heard DeLorean shout at the top of her lungs, “Tiberius,” and then bullets began to fly.
I whirled, and watched as DeLorean was in full seizure, her body bucking. Somehow she’d gotten the tape free from her neck and had my M4 aimed at her father. The onset of the seizure had caused her finger to convulse and pull the trigger. Whether she’d meant to empty the clip into her father, I’d never know… I didn’t want to know.
But she’d used our safe word.
* * *
We stood on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Behind us were several homes that had probably belonged to movie stars, or directors, or someone else who could afford the multi-million dollar views they offered. A slight breeze tickled our hair. I could feel moisture in the air from the spray of the crashing waves far below.
Crefloe had returned to Mother to give her our report. I’d gone onto the ocean with Suzie. She’d made her desire known and I’d felt that
it might help her open up. In fact, along the way she’d promised that she’d finally tell me what had happened to her… what had happened to take a care-free life-loving girl and turn her into someone so broken she could only exist as a self-crafted construct. She’d been queerly sane since I’d rescued her from the Rev. I was frankly enjoying her company. It was almost like the time before.
She inhaled the salty air. “Being near the sea reminds me of my parents. They used to take me and my little brother to Torrance Beach. I loved to sit in the sand and let the water slam over me.”
I inhaled as well. I had similar memories, but mine were also mixed with memories of loving girls along the cliffs of San Pedro and Rancho Palos Verdes. We’d find someplace secluded and make love to the music of the waves.
“I know I promised to tell you what happened to me,” she began, her voice drifting off.
I turned to her. She’d definitely promised.
“But I realized that I don’t want to tell you.”
My eyes narrowed. “Why not?”
“Right now when you look at me, I’m the culmination of your memories of me. Of the good and the bad. Of when we dated and were happy and when I was insane, trying to turn my wish that you’d asked me to marry you into a reality.”
I wanted to argue with her, but her admission derailed my train of thought. “You wanted me to marry you?”
She nodded wistfully. “I gave you so many hints.”
“I’m a dolt when it comes to those.”
“Yeah, you really sucked at that. But in my mind, I believed it had happened. Ninety-nine percent of the time I was mad at you for leaving me, for promising to marry me and never doing it.” She pulled her hair out of her eyes from where the wind had teased it. “Then one percent of the time I actually knew the truth of it and whenever that happened, I scurried back into my crazy hole because it was so much better to have loved and been jilted than to have loved and not been loved in return.”