The Harvest

by Steve Wands

  "Sounds like bullshit to me! My world was just fine," Len interrupted again.

  "Len. Silence. Our worlds are being harvested--we are the last of our kind--"

  "Shut up. This is bullshit. You can't possibly believe them," Len's voice quavered.

  The space-vampires lowered their arms. EeMeee began to shiver. EeMeee opened up the telepathic link they all shared, and joined them with the lady vampire in red. They didn't have to take the information secondhand. They could see for themselves the truths they refused to believe. They were indeed onboard a science vessel. They were indeed what was left of their worlds.

  Chapter Nine

  Len stood there. He could feel his feet firmly on the ground yet for some reason, he felt like he was drifting out of his body. Something itched at the back of his mind. Everything up to this point seemed like a far-fetched fastball being thrown out of a science fiction paperback, and why he was buying it all he didn't understand. He wasn't alone however, his new friends were buying it too--but who was selling it? He stood transfixed in a moment of time that seemed to last forever. He woke up naked, covered in slime, on a goddamned spacecraft and now this she-bitch in red was telling him that he was the last man alive from earth? Bullshit, Len thought, abso-fucking-lutely bullshit. His eyes narrowed and darted back and forth looking at everyone again, but this time really looking. Somebody here was full of shit, Len thought, and they were beginning to stink up the joint. Len would go along with things for now, not seeing any alternative, other than the ass whooping of a lifetime. He hoped to at least get a pair of pants. He was sick of his shriveled member dangling around.

  "You can see for yourself in our monitoring station," EeMeee translated for the lady in red.

  "Take us there, but if you try another show of force, I will tear you all apart," S'tahgrah grumbled.

  The lady in red was visibly shaken from S'tahgrah's notice of dismemberment, but she doubted his sincerity, "you look less capable than your tongue, beast" she replied.

  "If you're so sure than step closer, skag," the werewolf spat back.

  "Enough," she said calmly, and turned away, leading the way to the monitoring station.

  Len looked at the others, their hesitation was visibly noted, but they all followed the lady in red as she parted the sea of space vampires that surrounded them. S'tahgrah led the way with Vavoo slung over his shoulder. Len stuck close to him, and Dax closely behind Len with EeMeee skittering behind.

  The lady in red walked with a hint of royal elegance. Her flowing garments danced behind her like silky curtains in a cool breeze. Her posture and movements were alluring, but her face was corpselike and disgusting--she was the perfect mix of venom and perfume. Len couldn't make heads or tails out of her. She reminded him of his boss, and after thinking about it would rather be following her as opposed to her alien body double--but he didn't have a choice.

  Len felt an itch in the back of his mind--a little voice bouncing off the walls of his skull, but too distorted to recognize.

  "Something's not right," he mumbled.

  "We're screwed," Dax replied.

  "Any ideas?" Len asked.

  "Nope. You?"

  "Nope."

  "Not now," S'tahgrah grumbled, "be patient...my nose has found something our minds have not."

  Dax immediately stiffened up. He wanted to know what the werewolf knew, there snouts were comparable, and it made him question his own sensibilities--he wondered if had he been a fool to come along on this failure of an escape plan. Had the werewolf known something all along? He moved half a step slower; if that were the case he didn't want to be any closer to the massive beast that was nearly three times his size.

  The space-vampires watched them intently. Their beady eyes following every muscle-twitch from behind their masked faces as they followed the trail of red cloth down the corridor. They had raised their weapons and took a defensive stance--Len shivered a bit, and hoped they didn't notice. Of course, they did.

  Chapter Ten

  The monitoring room was gigantic. It had multiple levels that looked like horseshoe rings with dozens of staffed stations complete with B-movie gadgets and gizmos that dinged and danged, clicked and whirred. In a half dome shape at the end of the room was a massive holo-screen with dozens upon dozens of raw footage and text galleys. Among the footage were worlds being destroyed by an unseen menace.

  Len moved in closer, staring at a screen displaying images from earth. It bounced around as if someone was channel surfing, and among the locations Len recognized quite a few of them. He could see New York City, Paris, Tokyo, and plenty others all under attack by little clunky spaceships that moved around far faster than he'd ever seen any aircraft move, complete with bright red lasers that blasted his home world. Bullshit or not, it looked real, and it caused some very real emotions to rise to the surface. As Len stared at the screen tears ran down his cheeks.

  "This is bullshit!" Len screamed.

  "Keep yourself together, human," S'tahgrah grumbled.

  The large werewolf lowered Vavoo from his shoulder and placed her gently on the ground. She looked like she was sleeping peacefully, unawares to the horrors that played erratically on the screen. EeMeee skittered around giggling. Dax stood uneasily, watching the screens, looking to see what creatures were piloting those ships. Surely there had to be a ground force, he thought.

  S'tahgrah positioned himself next to EeMeee, all the while making eye contact with Len. Dax kept an eye on the two of them, and noticed a small movement from Vavoo, maybe she was waking, Dax hoped.

  "Here is the proof of your worlds demise," the lady vampire in red spoke.

  No one replied.

  S'tahgrah shifted his feet, aligning himself with his target. He struck swiftly. The large beast jutted his massive hands through EeMeee's thick shell like form, exiting out the other side. EeMeee screeched horridly, the pustules on its back erupting and pulsating. It shook violently and S'tahgrah roared as he ripped the tiny bug-like creature in half. Len watched on in horror. S'tahgrah threw the two pieces of EeMeee's body to the ground like it was nothing other than refuse.

  "Why?" Len asked.

  "That thing was no friend of ours, human," S'tahgrah replied.

  "I don't understand."

  "Look around," Dax said, "there's nothing here."

  "Holy...shit..." Len said as he looked around at an empty room.

  "That thing was in our heads, screwing with our minds," Vavoo said as she lifted herself up off the ground. "I had a hunch so, I played dead, reasonably. Since that insect assumed I was unconscious I went into his head and figured it out. It was the wolf's idea," she continued.

  "He smelled like a liar. And even if he wasn't he deserved to die just for all the laughing," S'tahgrah said.

  "Okay, if that's true, then why can we still understand each other?" Len asked.

  "That thing fucked with our heads so badly, they'll never be the same again. The mind link cannot be reversed. It will diminish over time, but we'll always be able to understand each other. We'll always be able to feel each other, it may be slight, but what EeMeee did to us is irreversible."

  "Fuck," Len whispered, scratching at his head.

  "There's something else," S'tahgrah said, "we are still on a spacecraft, and our worlds are being destroyed--"

  "More EeMeee's?" Len asked.

  "Yes," S'tahgrah replied.

  "They are harvesting our worlds," Vavoo explained. "They feed off of our minds."

  "Damn parasites," Dax added.

  "So, what are we supposed to do now?" Len asked.

  "We kill every last one of them and crash land the ship to the closest planet," the werewolf said, quite matter-of-factly.

  "You're joking right?" Dax asked.

  The werewolf said nothing, but showed as many teeth as he could.

  Chapter Eleven

  As they left the monitoring room, they were immediately attacked by hundreds of small spider-like creatures of EeMeee's ilk. They v
aried in size; there were small creatures, no larger than a human's fist, and others the size of half the corridor's width. They didn't wait like the would-be vampires did, they attack wildly from all directions and with seemingly no strategy--but they had strategy. They communicated with each other as quickly and decisively as any single-minded creature could. It made them quite formidable as a group, but their strength was varied and proportionate to their varied sizes. Even their hides were nothing special, they bruised like fruit--and burst like it too.

  Len, having not been much good for anything other than devising a hair-brained plan of escape with the very creatures that had captured them was devastating some of the smaller telepathic puss-bags. His small human hands formed tight fists that swung and connected with several of the bugs, sending them reeling.

  Apart from their physical attempt to subdue their once captive prisoners, the spider-like captors emitted a light telepathic pulse that irritated the group. The pulse felt like hot needles prickling at the backs of their necks. EeMeee's mind games had given them some resistance to its effects, but given enough time and potency the prisoners would fall victim to the pulse, as it would surely grow in severity. They would be beaten to submission by unseen mental weaponry. If Len and the others could continue to stand their ground physically they had the chance of getting away and then fighting at a distance where their captors' telepathy would be weakened.

  "We have to get away! My head is going to burst," Dax yelled, as he ripped one of the beings in half.

  "No shit!" Len yelled, swinging away like he had never done before.

  "Push through them! We have to use their numbers against them," the werewolf roared, covered in the puss-like blood of their enemy.

  Vavoo said nothing. She struck her enemies with a speed that the others couldn't match. She was swift and deadly, and sexy in a leathery, alien sort of way. Her needle-like features were growing back, a visible sign of her strength returning. Vavoo's home world was warrior's wet dream. There were constant battles among the several beings that inhabited her planet. Fighting was a way of life there, it was more than a rite of passage--you either kill or be killed. Even S'tahgrah took note of her veracity and couldn't help but smile. She was doing more damage than any of them and with such a small, slim figure.

  They fought, as the pulse increased, and moved from the middle of the mayhem to the outskirts of it. Their heads burned like fire. Their thoughts getting muddled, and vision blurred. The more they killed, the more they weakened the pulse, but the ones still standing increased its potency faster and faster, doing themselves harm in the process. If they could only survive long enough to exhaust them, they'd be home free. If EeMeee had been any indication of how long it took to exhaust them, it should be any second.

  "Why aren't they dropping?" Dax asked.

  "Don't...know..." Len mumbled, weakening quickly.

  "Just keep swinging!" S'tahgrah roared.

  So they did. They swung, and clobbered, and clawed, and stomped till they were heavy with the puss-like blood. Nearly slipping in the mess they had made. Now, the beings began to exhaust, their pustules erupting like zit volcanoes, their bug bodies quivering. Len, near collapse, charged at one the size of a car. He hit it hard with his fist, puncturing the thick shell of its bodies. It screeched, and bucked, and sent Len flying into the wall, leaving him too stunned to get back up. He sat against the corridor wall, covered in filth staring at the stars that fluttered before his eyes.

  Vavoo came in and finished the job. A few scattered, and the few that remained met the same end as the others. Dax, Vavoo, and S'tahgrah could barely stand. Their heads hurt something fierce and the pain ran throughout their bodies. Dax helped Len to his feet and stepped through the remains of their attackers.

  "Now, let's find the pilot and kill him too," S'tahgrah said.

  "Yeah, maybe he's got some aspirin--my head hurts so fucking bad," Len whined.

  "Hush, now, baby, we're almost home," Vavoo purred.

  "Hey, my head hurts too," Dax said.

  "I'm surrounded by pussies," Vavoo snickered.

  "I know that excludes me," the wolf looked back.

  "We'll see," Vavoo replied. "You might cry yet."

  "Not likely."

  Chapter Twelve

  The corridor was mostly empty. They had come across a handful of lone creatures and dispatched them accordingly. The craft they were on was massive and they had no real idea of where they were going. They knew their destination, but how to get there was all guesswork. They wandered around for what seemed like hours, entering random doorways, and bashing whatever creatures they came across into pussy little puddles on the floor.

  Len had never been so tired, and his head ached still. Vavoo led them forward. She had the most vigor in her step, leaving the others a few paces behind her.

  Either by luck or process of elimination, the next door she entered appeared to be the command center. It had all gizmos and do-dads a command center is supposed to have, even a command crew, a commander, or a pilot if you were to ask S'tahgrah. The command crew swung around to face the doorway as it whooshed open.

  "Land this ship or die," Vavoo ordered.

  They did not reply.

  "Die it is," S'tahgrah said, stepping through the door cracking his neck.

  The commander motioned one of its spindly legs and one of the crewmembers came darting forward, spraying puss from its back. The puss arched toward the doorway and Len lurched out of the way. S'tahgrah stepped to the side, Dax had yet to enter, and Vavoo stood her ground. What did she have to fear?--She'd had plenty of the puss on her as it was. The puss hit her, and at first it felt no different from a warm spray of blood. But after a moment, it began to burn, and her skin began to smoke. She held in a scream, but as the seconds ticked by she could no longer hold it in. Her skin burned like nothing she'd ever felt before.

  S'tahgrah leapt for the pilot, and the pilot dodged his attack, skittering out of the way just in time. The massive werewolf smashed his fist down on the console where the creature had been standing. It sparked and dimmed. The pilot made a screeching noise and ran for S'tahgrah, clearly angry. The wolf stood his ground and swung his large hand at the pilot. He connected and the pilot slapped against the wall. He didn't burst like the other creatures had, and the wolf was surprised as a result. The pilot wasn't getting back up, however.

  Vavoo clutched at her skin, trying to subdue the pain by sheer force of will. Dax pulled her to the side, finally entering the room. His hands began to burn at the touch, but when he looked at his digits he could see no difference.

  "They're using different tactics, but they're still screwing with our heads," Dax called out. "The puss doesn't burn! They're just making us think it does," Dax continued.

  "I'm getting really fed up with these bastards," Len replied.

  Len, his face an angry grimace, ran at the closest bug-like bastard he could see. His intended target matched his intent and ran right at him, its tall thin legs skittering forward.

  "Come on!" Len yelled.

  The creature hit him head on, attacking not only physically but telepathically as well. Len flew backward, and the creature followed through, piercing his shoulders with its legs. Len screamed.

  The werewolf roared, smashing everything in site. Crew and console alike they broke under his strength. The light in the room dimmed, and a red light began to pulse. An alien language blurted out of the air and the spacecraft was unable to maintain its course, falling victim to the closest celestial bodies gravitational pull. Whatever the werewolf had broken, if allowed to remain broken, would take them to one of their worlds. Which one they had no way of knowing. The fight in the command center abruptly ended as the momentum of the falling craft threw them back.

  "Everybody hold on! This is going to be one bumpy ride," Dax hollered, almost enjoying it.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The craft fell through the atmosphere, picking up a deadly amount of momentum. Pieces of the
hull began to melt away and disintegrate, sending portions of the craft scattering away from the center of its mass. The group was forced against the wall, their own bodies nearly compressing. The few creatures left of the command crew fought to keep the ship from crashing while their brethrens dead bodies joined the group of escapees against the wall.

  Len fought for breath, feeling his ribs squeeze over his lungs. S'tahgrah still tried to move but soon found it useless. The others remained against the wall, pinned by the momentum. Dax still seemed to be enjoying himself, while Vavoo kept her eyes clothes and mouthed what could only be a prayer.

  The alien crewmembers became immobilized. Their bodies pressed against consoles or remained strapped to their chairs. Some of them were pressed to the point of their pustules erupting--sending puss into the air.

  "This is better than Grav-Jumping!" Dax exclaimed. His voice lost among the noise.

  The ship crashed into an ocean, vaporizing tons of water as it broke through the surface. Giant waves of blue emanated from the crash. The ship hit bottom, digging itself in deep to the murky depths, but the ship couldn't bare the strain of the impact and began cracking. Water began to find its way in immediately and once the ship's momentum ceased the ship cracked almost in half and the back end began to tumble forward.