Sinister Shadows

by Simon Smith-Wilson

  ***

  Confusion swept through his mind on a tidal way of mixed emotions. A deep frown had etched onto his brow, as Andy watched the mob swarm Omar from every angle. The human was kicking and screaming, but he was outmatched by sheer numbers. Andy glanced up towards the glowing figure of his God. Jesus was stood by the cross, looking peaceful and serene, but why would God want this to happen? The aliens carried a bloody and beaten Omar up onto the mound in the centre of the town. Others lowered a wooden cross, whilst a semi-naked woman appeared carrying a wooden basket full of iron nails. Andy grabbed Chris by the shoulder, as he went to join into this brutal act.

  ‘Brother, we can let this happen.’

  ‘Jesus has spoken. This man is evil.’

  ‘How do we know this?’

  Chris gave his younger brother a puzzled look. ‘Our God told us so.’

  He shrugged Andy’s hand away and disappeared into the crowd. The energy in the air had reached fever pitch. The aliens were howling and barking with glee in their strange alien tongue. Excited glances and sick smiles were exchanged between the followers of Jesus. Andy couldn’t see what was happening, but he could hear the sound of metal striking metal. The sound was quickly followed by Omar’s agonising screams. Once again Andy looked towards his Lord. Jesus was stood to one side. A smile had crept up the side of his face. It was not the smile of a peace loving man. It had taken several minutes before the metal clanging stopped, but Omar’s screams did not. The aliens hoisted the wooden cross back into its vertical position. Andy could feel his heart drop down into the pit of his stomach. A toxic storm of disgust filled the core of his being. Omar had been stripped naked, nailed to the cross and had an iron crown of thorns upon his head. The cuts across his scalp were the most gruesome part of it all, part of his flesh hung down, exposing the skull. Andy slunk away from the group and rushed back to his hut. He simply couldn’t stand it anymore. The aliens chanted and cheered, as Jesus watched on.

  ***

  An alarm on the computer console began to beep a quiet warning. Ryan pulled himself away from the diagnostic screen for just a moment. He had managed to hack into the maintenance robots control system. They had been running on pre-programmed settings, fixing anything directly in front of them. They probably would have continued to do these little jobs to the end of time. Theoretically, the robots could pretty much repair anything if they had the tools. Part of their program was finding suitable materials to complete the tasks. Ryan wanted to see if they could repair the ship’s engines. It was a big ask because the ship was completely destroyed, but it was worth trying. If the robots decided they didn’t have the materials needed to fix the engines then they would return to their original task, which was turning the ship into a liveable environment for the survivors.

  Ryan switched off the parameter alarm.

  Sheridan was back.

  The CCTV footage showed her in the airlock.

  He could finally relax, knowing that she was safe. Sheridan was hard headed, feisty and stubborn. It was a tricky combination of traits. Add the fact that she had just lost her father and there was no way he was going to get through to her. The best thing that Ryan could do was support her as best he could. They both knew he had feelings for her, but they were also friends. Ryan watched Sheridan remove the helmet of her space suit. She turned and began to speak to the empty space beside her. Ryan leant closer to the computer screen. The CCTV camera picked up no sound, but Sheridan was talking to someone. It wasn’t that she was talking out loud. She was making gestures with her hands, poking her finger at someone, and having a full blown conversation with the invisible space. It was an alarming sight to see.

  Chapter Six: Temple of Mirrors

  Tired eyes creaked open and looked up at the mirror with the golden frame on the ceiling of the room. Someone had dressed him into a spacesuit. It took a few moments for his memory to return to him. His mind was groggy from the drugs used to knock him out. Matthews groaned heavily, as he sat himself up. It felt like he had the hangover from hell. His skull was throbbing. Confusion swept through his mind, as he looked at the room of mirrors. All around him were six foot high mirrors in beautifully crafted golden frames. Most of the mirrors were illuminated by some unknown light source. There were no physical lights to be seen. Several of the mirrors were cast in darkness. It was just like his dream. In the distance, beyond the mirrors, he could see more mirrors concealed in darkness. He could feel a certain depth to the room. Just how big was this room of mirrors?

  ‘Hello?’ his voice echoed off into the shadows.

  Matthews got to his feet.

  He turned slowly, looking at his reflection in all of the mirrors.

  He was no longer at the base.

  Just where was he?

  Who brought him here?

  ‘There are so many versions of you, but which one is the real you?’ asked a soft female voice.

  ‘Who is there?’ he asked, looking at his reflections.

  ‘Which one is the real you?’

  ***

  Silently, Sheridan climbed out of the single bunk. Ryan was asleep on the other bunk. They had both managed to get a good night’s sleep thanks to the maintenance robots. The majority of the ship was inaccessible, but a couple of the sleeping quarters on the top deck were still working. Heating and lights were temperamental, but that wasn’t the end of the world. The thermal space suits kept them warm, and they didn’t need lights to sleep. Slowly, she crept out through the doorway, where the door was bent half-open. Another quick glance proved that Ryan was out for the count. Sheridan could see her father waiting for her at the end of the corridor. He walked off as she approached. It was a short walk through the ship to the command room. She found her father stood next to the control panel that gave a bird’s eye view of the planet’s surface.

  ‘This is where you should head next,’ he said, pointing to the map.

  Sheridan walked over, enhanced the zoom and examined the area.

  A group of tracking signals were bunched together, but none were moving.

  ‘Are they dead?’

  ‘Yes,’ he confirmed.

  ‘Omar did it?’

  ‘I believe so. I think you will find all the evidence you need here.’

  ‘Let’s go.’

  ‘No.’ Her father stepped in front of her, blocking her way. ‘You don’t have to keep acting on your own all the time. I want you to take Ryan with you.’

  ‘Ryan will only slow me down. I want Omar in cuffs for what he did to you.’

  ‘And he will be, but what happens if you get hurt?’

  ‘I won’t.’

  ‘I know you won’t, but Ryan is a peace officer too and a good man. Take him with you.’

  Sheridan thought about it for a second, but that loving, gentle expression on her father’s face broke her resolve. A voice in the back of her head reminded her that her father was gone. He was dead. This man beside her was a ghost. How long would he be able to stay with her like this? The pain in her heart was so intense that for a moment she felt like she was going to fall to the floor. The tears poured from her eyes, as she stepped forward to hug her father. He embraced her, tightly, pulling her into him. A kiss was planted on top of her head. He had always done that to reassure her, but there was no reassuring her today. Her father was dead. Would he finally be able to rest in peace once Omar was caught?

  ***

  The feel of the hot water spraying across her face seemed to wash all her stress and fear away. For one long moment in time, she forgot all about the recent horrors of her life, which there was a very long list for. Kimberly just closed her eyes and allowed the showerhead to do its work. Hot baths were one thing, but there was nothing like a hot shower for washing away negative energy and unwanted thoughts. Time drifted by, as she stood naked in the shower, but she knew she couldn’t hide here all day. Kimberly switched off the shower, stepped onto the bathmat and grabbed the thick dark green military style towel off the rack. She cau
ght her reflection in the mirror. She looked tired. That wasn’t surprising with everything that had happened at the dig sight. Graham hadn’t been the easiest to deal with since he got back home. The medical team had given him drugs to help with his anxiety, but they were so strong that he was practically a zombie. Kimberly took her time, drying herself off. There was a hairdryer in the bedroom she could use, but for the moment that could wait. She was going to draw this out for as long as possible, as she would be straight into serious mode for the rest of the day when she stepped out of the bathroom. Finally, that time came. She simply couldn’t find any more reasons to stall.

  Kimberly stepped out of the bathroom.

  A frown creased her brow.

  The red light was on above the airlock.

  Was someone coming or was someone going?

  She held the towel up around her naked body and walked down the hallway. She poked her head into the various ground floor rooms, but they were devoid of activity. Her heart began to beat faster and faster at the realisation that both her husband and son were gone. She could hear the airlock hatch open externally. It meant someone was leaving. She rushed to the airlock and tapped on the control panel, but it would take at least two minutes before the internal door opened and she could follow. Kimberly headed for the porthole window in the living room. It looked directly into the street of rectangular houses. She could see Graham and Christopher walking away from the house. They were both dressed in their spacesuits, but it was Christopher that was leading Graham. The two were walking hand in hand, as if on a nice day out down the park, but it was the five-year-old boy that was guiding his father. Graham was off his head on the sedatives and probably didn’t even know what was going on. Did that mean that Christopher strapped up the space suits?

  Kimberly ran to the airlock hatch, hitting the buttons.

  ‘COME ON!’ She screamed.

  ***

  ‘Doctor Emerson?’ asked the elderly Doctor Jones, as he walked through the silent alien building. A window revealed the incredible cityscape of the undiscovered alien city. The sight of it filled his heart with such excitement and joy. The amount of knowledge hidden away in this city was more intoxicating than the most powerful drug in the known universe to Doctor Jones. He lived for discovery. This place was a gold mine. His operation had slowed slightly since he had to send half his team back to the base to support with the disaster at the dig sight, but Doctor Emerson was a truly talented young lady. The problem was that he hadn’t seen her for hours. He had thought she was off searching other rooms within the apparent library, but now he was starting to get worried. ‘Doctor Emerson?’ His voice echoed off into the long white arched corridor. Suddenly, a door slid vertically open to his left-hand side. The lights within the room were out. ‘Doctor Emerson?’ he asked, unsure. Slowly, he approached the doorway. The interior lights flicked on to reveal a staircase and went down several levels. Someone was clanging around below him. Doctor Jones began to take the stairs one at a time.

  ***

  Time appeared to stand still as the mysterious woman stepped from behind one of the mirrors. Matthews swallowed the lump that had gathered in his throat, as he glanced at her exposed breasts. They were the most perfect pair of tits he had ever seen. They were the type of breasts women paid surgeons to make. His eyes dropped lower, taking in her shaven vagina. The woman was gorgeous, sexy and beyond beautiful.

  ‘Who are you?’ He asked the obvious question.

  ‘I am God,’ she replied.

  ‘You are mad,’ he scoffed.

  ‘Watch what you say,’ said Tracy, from behind him. Matthews turned to face the young woman in the green overalls. He had remembered seeing her on the base. She was one of the engineers that had put the camp together after they awoke from deep sleep.

  ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘I am saving us,’ she replied. ‘Sorry about having to drug you.’

  ‘That was you?’

  ‘I commanded her to do it.’

  ‘Because you’re God, right?’

  ‘That is correct,’ smiled the mysterious woman. It was a beautiful smile.

  ‘I am going to get to work securing the upper floors,’ said Tracy, as she disappeared off between some of the mirrors. Matthews was going to follow and get the hell out of here, but he was glued to the spot. His full and undivided attention was on the sexy naked woman in front of him.

  ‘What do you want from me?’ he asked her.

  ‘I want to help you.’

  ‘Do what?’

  ‘I want to help you, help others. Your people are in danger. This is a dangerous planet.’

  ‘I am starting to work that one out for myself.’

  She smiled. ‘This planet has more mysteries than you could ever know.’ She waved a hand at the mirrors, only a dozen or so of them were illuminated by some invisible light source. The thousands of others in this never ending room were cast in shadows. ‘Every mirror is a doorway into a mind. These are the untainted. The ones we can save. By stepping through the mirror you can take control of that person, you can tell them how to find us.’

  ‘You're crazy.’

  ‘I speak the truth. I know you are curious to find out what happened to the Captain. We both know she didn’t kill those people. Sadly, she was infected with an illness.’ His mind drifted back to his conversation with the young doctors in the medical bay. They had mentioned some kind of alien virus. ‘The Captain was doing what she thought was right, but she did not kill those people. Omar killed them.’ Matthews went to open his mouth and demand to see the evidence, but something deep down in the core of his body told him that this woman was talking the truth. It was like he wanted to believe her. ‘Yet again, Omar believed he was doing the right thing. In his own eyes, he was trying to protect you all, but he was also infected. This place is my temple of mirrors.’ She waved a hand around the room. ‘This is a safe place where your people can survive. The mirrors are doorways, Peace Officer Matthews. You do have the power to save your people.’

  ***

  Ryan looked out on the barren surface of the planet through the porthole window. Sheridan could tell something was troubling him without anything needed to be said. Only now did she allow herself to think about what Ryan had done for her. He had travelled across this alien world without any protection or anyone knowing where he was going, just to keep her safe. It was a dangerous and reckless move. Danger and recklessness were two words that didn’t fit with Ryan. Her friend was always so calculated. He was a list person. He always had a long list of things he had to do tucked away in his pocket notebook. Nothing was left to chance with Ryan. Every decision was thought through in great detail, but then at a drop of a hat he had left the safety of the base to keep her safe.

  ‘Thank you, Ryan.’

  He replied with a soft smile.

  ‘I am grateful you have come with me.’

  ‘It’s okay,’ he said, dismissively.

  ‘What are you thinking?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ he sighed. ‘I was just thinking if we will ever actually be rescued.’

  ‘We will,’ she told him. ‘It might take a few years, but we will be rescued.’

  He sighed again. ‘I don’t fancy the prospect of staying in this place for a few years.’

  Sheridan slipped her palm into his hand.

  ‘We will take care of each other. I will help you like you have helped me.’

  He gave her hand a little squeeze and smiled again. ‘I would like that.’

  ‘We may be trapped on this planet, but you are not alone, Ryan.’

  ‘Good.’ He turned his eyes back to the view of the wasteland. ‘When shall we go?’

  ‘When the sun is up,’ she replied. ‘Only one more stop then we head back.’

  ‘You really are going to arrest Omar?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘We will need to get him out of that armoured tank suit first.’

  ‘I know, but he will have to sleep at
some point.’

  ‘Okay.’

  Sheridan looked at Ryan. She had been so wrapped up in the death of her father and then the return of her dead father that she hadn’t given Ryan a thought. She had taken him for granted, but that would change. He was a good man. He was a kind man. Together they would survive their time on this world. Together they would turn this horrible experience into something positive. Once they got back to the base, she would tell him how she felt. Sheridan knew how he felt about her. It was why Ryan came with her on this mission. He loved her. She could learn to love him too.

  ***

  The helmet of her spacesuit amplified the sound of her heavy breathing as Kimberly ran through the camp. The howling wind had hidden any trace of her baby’s footprints, but they couldn’t have gone far. The camp was on lock down. The electric fences kept the alien creatures out, but also kept people in. That was some small relief she could hold onto. After a few minutes of circling the camp, looking through portholes and searching between all the buildings Kimberly returned to the far edge of the camp near the electrical fence. The powerful bolts of electricity cast a strange glow across the night time landscape of sandy dunes.

  And then she saw them.

  Graham and Christopher were outside of the electric fence, casually walking hand in hand away from the camp. ‘NO! Stop, where are you going?’ Christopher looked back and waved at her. He was wearing a big beaming smile. It the type of smile he would flash when he discovered he was being taken to the park. ‘Christopher, come back to Mummy. Come back to me.’ He continued to wave over his shoulder, as they walked off beyond the glow of the electric fence and into the darkness of the alien world. ‘NO. COME BACK! YOU HAVE TO COME BACK. HELP ME!’ She turned to face the sleeping camp. ‘SOMEONE HELP ME!’

  ***

  Flickering blue lights on the tiled floor marked a route through the dark corridor. Dr Jones swallowed down the lump in his throat. What was waiting for him at the end of the corridor? Footsteps could be heard in the distance, but they sounded as if they were moving away from him. ‘Doctor Emerson?’ he asked, but still, no reply came back to him. Suddenly, the door behind him slid vertically down. A lock clicking noise could be heard coming from the locking mechanism. Dr Jones tapped his hand on the alien console beside the door, but nothing happened. He glanced back over his shoulder to the flickering tiles. Did he really have any other option? Reluctantly, he stepped forward onto the first tile, as he did so the light beneath his foot winked out.