Sinister Shadows

by Simon Smith-Wilson

  Annie looked down the room.

  It appeared to go on for miles.

  ‘Isn’t this playing God?’

  ‘That is what I am meant to do,’ he retorted.

  ‘What are you?’ she asked, coming to an abrupt stop. ‘You say you want my help, but what are you? You can walk across the surface of this planet without a spacesuit. Those alien beasts at the camp killed everything and everyone, but it was like they couldn’t even see you. And now you are asking for my help. You are telling me you cannot do this without me, but I need to know what you are.’

  ‘That is fair enough,’ nodded Noah in agreement. ‘I am a survivor.’

  He walked on.

  Annie stood in silence for a moment.

  ‘That’s it?’

  ‘No, but let’s keep walking.’

  Annie thought about it for a second and rushed to catch up with him.

  ‘My home world died millions of years ago. I came from an incredible world ruled by beings with a genius as vast as the universe. They could do pretty much anything they wanted. They understood things that go beyond the realms of science. They were loving, caring, but also dangerous. Civil war destroyed everything. It appears no matter how far we evolve beings will still fight over different beliefs in ideology and religion. The war was gruesome. It nearly destroyed all of the realms of existence. The beings that ruled us released a weapon that was a combination of mass genocide and mass suicide. In a single moment, every single one of them just disappeared. And like that, the war was over. We are their legacy.’

  ‘That’s horrible,’ muttered Annie.

  ‘Yes. I miss them. They were wise. My master was so kind. They placed all their knowledge and dreams into us. The ones you have found in this dead world. We were sent out into the universe to continue the good work that our masters had started, but the hope was that if you allowed different beliefs to grow on a billion different worlds, then life might have a better chance of evolving and surviving. That is why we travel from world to world, teaching and guiding people.’

  ‘Did you come to our world? Are you that Noah? Is this your ark?’

  Noah smiled.

  ‘Over the centuries there were a few of us that visited your world. The one that made the biggest impact was a man named Jesus.’

  ‘You mean the son of God?’

  ‘That man is no son of God,’ replied Noah, with a hint of hate in the base of his voice.

  A thought occurred to Annie.

  ‘How did you end up here, on this dead world?’

  Noah sighed, ‘this world hasn’t always been dead.’

  ***

  Kimberly stood in the narrow corridor taking short, sharp breaths. Unconsciously, she glanced back the way she had just come. She wanted to just turn on her heels and rush home. Gabriel was stood next to her, leaning against the wall.

  ‘Please, don’t make me do this,’ she asked him.

  ‘It is your choice,’ said Gabriel, but he somehow made that sound like a threat.

  ‘This is wrong. You can’t expect anyone to believe me?’

  ‘If you don’t do this I will take your son again. This time you won’t get him back.’

  ‘Fuck you,’ she growled, ‘I hate you. And when I get the chance I will kill you.’

  Gabriel smirked, ‘just make sure you do what I ask.’

  Kimberly turned towards the door that led into the peace station.

  She couldn’t believe she was going to do this, but things like this were getting easier, as she had done so much already. Sucking down her fears, she stepped towards the hatch. It was time to end her part in this cruel setup.

  ***

  Peace Officer Matthews forced a smile at Kimberly, as his two deputies carried the bloody and battered Captain Abbott out of the Peace Station. ‘Get her to the Doctor A.S.A.P,’ he ordered. Kimberly’s wide eyes followed the badly injured woman out of the room. ‘I apologise for you having to see that. Domestic issues can get violent on occasion,’ he lied.

  ‘Okay,’ countered Kimberly, not really sure what to say.

  She stood in silence for a moment.

  ‘Is there a reason you came here?’ asked Officer Matthews.

  ‘Yes,’ she replied, unable to make eye contact with the man.

  There was another silence.

  ‘I came to report an incident,’ she explained, feeling sick to her stomach about the coming lie.

  ‘And what is it you want to report?’

  ‘I was raped in my home.’

  ***

  Captain Abbott knew she would have one chance and one chance only. If Gabriel was right then, she had to get out of here now. Sheridan and Peace Officer Richards were dragging her down the corridor towards the medical centre. Jennifer was making it hard work for them by playing dead and allowing gravity to make her a truly dead weight. She had to ignore the pinching feeling from their hands beneath her elbows. It took nearly two minutes for them to make the brief journey down the corridor. A hatch awaited them.

  ‘Have you got her?’ asked Sheridan.

  ‘Yeah,’ grunted Richards.

  Sheridan let go of Captain Abbott and turned towards the hatch. Richards stepped over Captain Abbott, he was forced to bend down and hook his arms under hers, as she hung limply in the kneeling position. Sheridan reached for the button with her right hand. Jennifer made her move. She flung back her head, catching Richards in the jaw. The spark of pain forced him to release her elbows. He reeled back, holding his face and broken teeth. Jennifer dropped to her knees and grabbed Sheridan’s sidearm from her belt. Before the young woman had even realised what had happened, it was too late. Jennifer shuffled away from them both, holding the barrel of the gun up.

  ‘Don’t you dare fucking move,’ she managed to say with cut lips.

  ‘Don’t do this, Captain Abbott,’ warned Sheridan.

  ‘Bitch,’ cursed Officer Richard, rubbing his jaw, blood was pouring down his chin.

  ‘Where will you go? You are wanted for terrorism,’ explained Sheridan.

  ‘In there,’ Jennifer gesture with a wave of the gun to a storage room. ‘DO IT!’ She screamed. The two of them could see the mad desperation in her eyes. Reluctantly, both officers stepped through the door. Jennifer waited until they were inside and pressed the door release. Four strikes from the butt of the gun destroyed the wall control, locking them both in the room.

  ‘Well done,’ said Gabriel, from a junction in the corridor. ‘Let’s get to work.’

  ***

  Silence filled the room, as Peace Officer Matthews watched the internal security footage of Kimberly’s home. He made a clicking sound with the inside of his mouth, as he rubbed his hand across his stubbly jawline. The video was short and brief. Kimberly had only revealed a small portion of what really happened and deleted the rest. In the video Kimberly was lying on her back on the couch, the point of view of the camera was on the far side of the room. You could hardly see her, or you could see was Rick pinning her hands down to the arm of the couch as he fucked her. The video was vague enough to create the appearance of a possible rape. Peace Officer Matthews didn’t know she consented to the act, but Gabriel had said all she needed to do was create enough doubt to create an investigation.

  Peace Officer Matthews turned off the screen and pulled out his touch screen tablet.

  ‘I just need to ask you a few questions,’ he began.

  ‘Okay,’ she replied, the nerves she displayed were very real.

  ‘How did he gain access to the house?’

  ‘I went out for a drink,’ admitted Kimberly. ‘I went to Bar A. I saw Rick there. He is a friend of my husband and has worked with him for years. I joined him for a drink. He was a bit of a state and said that he had been in an argument with his wife. I felt sorry for him and offered him the couch at our place. I didn’t want him drinking himself into a state and getting into trouble.’

  ‘So, you invited him back to your home?’ Peace Officer Matthews wrote it al
l down.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What happened next?’

  ‘I went to make a cup of coffee. I thought if I could sober him up that would be the best thing. He was flirty, but Rick always is with me. He has fancied me for a while. I sat with him for five minutes and was about to go to bed, but he wouldn’t let me leave. He started being forceful and rough, but before I knew what was happening he was on top of me.’

  ‘He raped you?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Where is the rest of the internal security footage? I will need to see all of it.’

  ‘I deleted it.’

  ‘You deleted it?’

  ‘I can’t have my husband seeing it.’ Kimberly dropped her head into the palms of her hands and burst into tears. The emotional display was real. She really couldn’t have her husband knowing what happened. The thought of it frightened her right down to the core of her being. ‘Please, you can’t let my husband know what happened. It would crush him.’

  ***

  The battered old truck bounced across the rough and rocky landscape, as it drove further and further away from the makeshift road. Jacob killed the headlights, as he came to a stop at the edge of a crater. He looked through the windscreen at the dig site before him. Huge floodlights illuminated a very large area. There were no electrical fences to protect the site from the threats of the alien creatures. A wide array of vehicles was down in the crater. Diggers were cutting away rocks, as trucks drove back and forth to deposit tonnes of dirt and debris. Men in space suits using laser tools could be seen sporadically across the site. The hum of the vehicles made it sound like Jacob was near a bee’s nest. There appeared to be structures poking out of the ground. Yellow tape cordoned off certain digs, but no one appeared to be paying them much mind. In the centre of the dig was a cave. It was about eight foot high and eight foot across. Bright multicoloured lights shone from within the cave. There was something about the light display that looked out of place on this dig site.

  Jacob looked out of the driver’s side window.

  Jesus was stood beside him like a beacon of white light.

  Jacob opened the truck door and stepped out in his space suit.

  In one gloved hand, he held the handgun given to him by his brother.

  ‘This is the place,’ informed Jesus.

  ‘What shall I do, my Lord?’

  ‘Kill them,’ he ordered, ‘kill them all.’

  ***

  Kimberly sat on the edge of her bed, sobbing into her hands. Deep down in her heart, she knew she would never be able to forgive herself for what she had just done. Rick never raped her. She had lured him back to the house and fucked him. She had openly cheated on her husband to protect her son, and now she was about to have an innocent man arrested. There was no way she would be able to forget what she had done.

  ‘You shouldn’t be so sad,’ said Gabriel.

  Kimberly looked up at him.

  Her eyes were red raw.

  She didn’t even question how he gained access to her home. Kimberly knew there was something different about this man. The bedroom door was closed. And she knew he hadn’t been in the room when she entered. She just accepted that he was here and was most likely going to make her do something else that was equally as soul destroying.

  ‘An innocent man is going to get arrested.’

  ‘No man is innocent,’ explained Gabriel.

  ‘You’re a horrible person.’

  ‘I am doing what I can to protect the ones I love,’ replied Gabriel. ‘I thought you would like to know that your actions may have just saved thousands of lives.’ Kimberly looked at him, trying to examine the man’s makeup covered face. He really did believe what he was saying, but that didn’t help her. Kimberly had done some very bad things, and an innocent man was going to be arrested.

  ‘No good comes from negative acts,’ she muttered to herself.

  ***

  ‘Oh my...’ she muttered, as her eyes travelled the towering bookshelves of hardback books. The library was as long as the alien habitats and had thousands of aisles packed full of millions, if not billions of books. ‘Are they all from alien worlds?’ asked Annie.

  ‘They are,’ replied Noah, smiling from ear to ear. ‘I try to save everything I can from those worlds.’

  ‘This is incredible. I love books.’ She walked up to the closest book. ‘May I?’ Noah nodded his head in reply. Annie picked up the book and then frowned. Noah let out a laugh. The book opened in three ways. It opened as a traditional book would, but also upwards to reveal the third page. The writing was like nothing she had seen before. It was diagonal squiggles, which looked identical to every other mark on the page.

  ‘This was from an alien race with numerous limbs, eyes and two minds.’

  ‘Does something like that exist?’

  ‘Every possibility of life exists,’ replied Noah.

  ‘It’s a shame I cannot read it.’

  ‘You can. I have things here that will teach you this language in minutes, but the concept of speech might be so different to your own that you still might not be able to grasp even a single word.’

  ‘And there are so many books. There is so much to learn.’

  ‘It would all be yours if you came with me.’

  She turned her beaming smile towards him. The thought of all this literature from so many worlds was like a book lover's dream. Her smile fell from her face, as a thought came to her mind. ‘Why have you picked me? I know we spoke about this, but it doesn’t make sense.’

  ‘Only you can see me,’ said Noah.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You are the only person on this planet that can see me. On this world are thousands of my kind, but you are only able to see one of us. There is no choice involved. I found you, and you found me by pure chance, although I don’t believe in chance. I believe we are all here for a higher purpose. I think we were meant to find each other.’

  ‘The other survivors can see others like you?’

  ‘Yes. They will be guiding them and manipulating them.’

  ‘I am the only one that can see you? Does that mean you only choose me because I was your only choice?’

  ‘No. Never! The first time I saw you I knew you were the one. Do you believe in love at first sight?’ Noah broke eye contact for a moment, as he blushed. ‘The moment I saw you I felt something I had never felt before. I was so pleased that there was a connection between us. I knew that if you came with me, I would be so happy, as I would be able to travel the universe with the most incredible woman.’

  There was a silence between them.

  Annie didn’t know what to say.

  What did you say to something like that?

  ‘I felt the same way. I couldn’t believe we had sex just after meeting each other. I was compelled by you, attracted to you. I am pleased with had a connection, but this...’ she waved a hand at the library. ‘This place is a lot to digest in such a short space of time. You are asking so much of me. Will I ever be able to see my sister again?’

  ‘Yes. You can go to her when you want. She can come with us.’

  ‘Is that true?’ The thought of taking her sister away from the damp and dangerous streets of Earth was like a dream come true. Her sister would love what they are about to do. She had always dreamed of being an explorer and helping people.

  ‘Yes.’

  The decision was made.

  The decision was easy.

  ‘I will come with you, Noah.’

  ***

  Deep within the tunnel, beneath the dig site, was a door. It was circular in design and stood roughly eight foot high. Lights pulsed through the complex design every half a heartbeat. The flash of light offered brief moments of illumination to the torch-lit tunnel. Rick couldn’t determine if the light was part of the locking mechanism or a strange form of alien artwork. It looked beautiful. Neil was stood by a portable computer console they had wired up to the door. Saul waited beside them, filming
the whole event on the tablet. This was a moment that history would remember. They were entering an alien room of some design. This would be the first contact with an advanced alien technology.

  ‘We have it,’ said Neil, as his computer screen flashed up a message.

  ‘Open it,’ said Rick.

  Neil tapped a button on his keypad, and a loud hiss filled the air. All three men stepped back, as the door rolled away with a loud clunking rusty sound of something that hadn’t moved in a very long time. A wave of dust sprayed down the tunnel, momentarily blinding the visors of their spacesuits. The pulsating light momentarily stopped. Rick wiped away the dust from his helmet with one gloved hand.

  He looked into the interior of the room.

  Only darkness awaited them.

  ‘Who is going first?’ asked Saul.

  A gunshot rang out. The narrow corridor amplified the sound, making it sound like an explosion. Rick spun to find Saul laying face down in the dirt. His eyes looked back up the corridor at the unknown man marching towards them with the gun in hand. ‘Wait...’ Rick managed to get one word out before a bullet pierced through the front of his helmet, cut through his head and exploded out the back of his skull. He hadn’t even had a chance to feel any pain. Neil attempted to make a break into the alien room, but Jacob showed no mercy. The follower of Jesus put three rounds into the man’s back. Neil bounced off the round doorframe and struck the ground hard. He groaned in agony, as he instinctively crawled away. Jacob followed the man of pure light into the alien tunnel. Jesus glowed like a sun in the sky, forcing back all the darkness. A single gunshot into the back of his head put Neil out of his misery. Jacob didn’t even break his stride to murder the man, as he headed into the alien room.

  ***

  Peace Officer Matthews approached the digger with caution. Something felt off about the place. His eyes narrowed on the blood splatter on the inside of the digger’s cab. He hoped he was seeing things. Unconsciously, he unclipped the sidearm holsters on the hip of his space suit. He gripped the hilt tightly in his right hand, as he reached up for the door of the cab with his left hand. A quick glance at the silent dig site showed that there was no movement, which in itself was odd. He knew all seven members of the dig crew were working tonight. Usually, Lorries would be going back and forth, as machines dug into the alien terrain, but this was like a ghost town tonight.