Alastair (Ghosts of Ophidian Book 2)

by Scott McElhaney

  The sailors could also visit the rest of the Oort Station if they so chose, but the station probably offered nothing more appealing than what they’d find on twenty-six. It was a level that always fascinated Theo. It was also the very level where Theo had dreamed of one day finding work. Theo’s only regret was that twenty-six was no longer alive with the multitude of visiting sailors it once catered to.

  He took the express elevator which deposited him in the main corridor of twenty-six between “The Flamingo Lounge” and “Ice-teroid On Tap”. It was a little after two o’clock and the corridor traffic was depressingly light. Considering that there were most likely one or two ships docked at the moment, he found it to be a little disheartening. Pretty soon, the only money the station would ever make would be strictly from the water.

  “What brings you to the docks at this time of the day, Theophilus?”

  He recognized Jill standing just outside the Ice-teroid. She was one of the regulars at the Ice-teroid; always willing to lend an ear to any guy for half an hour as long as he was willing to buy her a drink. Theo found himself bending that delicate ear of hers for strawberry smoothies at least once a week.

  “Just got fired yesterday,” he said, ambling over to her, “You’re now looking at an unemployed, unschooled, worthless sack of dung.”

  “While I agree that you’re a worthless sack of dung, I think I dropped out of school a year before you did,” she said, nodding toward the bar, “Why don’t I buy you a drink this time?”

  “You buy me a drink? Has that ever happened before?” he asked.

  “Hey, I’m a working girl. I probably make more than you ever did,” she said, leading the way through the frosted glass door.

  The blue neon lights inside the Ice-teroid reflected coolly off the white jagged walls, giving the illusion that the bar was carved into the side of an ice mountain. Jill’s long slender legs resembled ice picks slicing and stabbing through the thick fog that covered the floor. Her feet were hidden somewhere in the blue-hued fog as she made her way to the bar.

  “When have you ever had a job? Other than down on fifteen, I’ve never seen you anywhere but here or roaming these corridors,” he said.

  “Yeah, whatever,” she said, “Would you like a drink or not?”

  “Yes, please,” he said, seating himself on the stool beside her.

  The ancient bartender had been delivering a pitcher of foaming ale to a group of men seated in the corner. He returned to the bar and greeted them with a smile full of yellow teeth and a wink for Jill.

  “What’ll it be, kids?” he asked, slapping his hand on the counter between them, “And don’t tell me you’re here for a frothy mug of Ice-teroid.”

  Ice-teroid, commonly pronounced “Icetroid,” was a beer that could only be found on the Oort Station. Thomas Wahl, the seventy-year old bartender in front of them had started brewing the sweet ale out of his home nearly fifty years ago. It didn’t take long for the alcoholic beverage to get its own fan club, seeing as the imported stuff ran out quite often back then.

  Wahl’s father owned the very pub that would eventually be called “Ice-teroid On Tap” and business was already in a slow decline. The pub was called “The Hideout” back in those days and Thomas asked his father to start serving his home-brew. In less than a year, that beverage which was called “Thom-ice” became the biggest draw to deck twenty-six. He would eventually change the beer’s name to Ice-teroid and get permission to revamp the whole pub. For a short while, the sailors would flock into the Oort Station while they were docked just to drown their sorrows at Thomas’ pub.

  “Strawberry smoothie for me and a tall ginger ale for my friend here,” Jill said, patting Theo’s arm.

  Thomas nodded, then stepped away to get their drinks.

  “So, what’s the plan? Are you going back to school to learn another trade or are you going to work in sewage treatment?” she asked.

  He shook his head, as he seemed to notice her for the first time. He’d gone to school with her and still talked to her now and then, but he never took the time to truly notice her. He’d always thought she was pretty, but it never really clicked with him until now just how pretty she was. He wondered if it was his hormones speaking now thanks to noticing her long, slender legs a moment ago.

  “I’ve got nothing, Jill. I’m not sure what I want to do,” he said, “I guess I came up here to check the shipping schedules and maybe follow in my brother’s footsteps.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding,” she said, “You came up here with plans to stow away on one of the ships?”

  “It was more of a random possibility, I guess. I spent the day researching something that really doesn’t seem to matter at all,” he said.

  Thomas placed a tall red smoothie topped with whipped cream in front of Jill. Then he set down a foaming glass that looked very much like Ice-teroid.

  “I added a little extra carbonation so it would foam up like beer. What’s life if you can’t screw with the minds of the local security forces?” Thomas asked.

  Theo chuckled and tasted it to make sure it indeed was ginger ale. It was, but it did look a lot like a glass of beer. Jill was swirling her straw through the whipped cream, then lifted the strawberry from the corner and bit into it.

  “You’re just a little depressed, Theo. You need a day or two to rest and think about what you want. I’m not talking about what your dad wanted or what Alastair wanted. You don’t need to gather ice just because it’s what they did. What do you want?”

  He took another drink from his mug and muffled a burp behind his fist. He hoped it looked like he was clearing his throat. Perhaps the extra carbonation wasn’t such a good idea.

  “I really loved working with Phil. I looked forward to gathering ice, believe it or not. Now, I really feel a little aimless and I’m not sure what else to do. Do you know what I really want to do?” he asked leaning in close to her as he lowered his voice.

  She backed away slightly, then looked at him curiously.

  “What’s that, Theo?” she asked, “What do you want?”

  She leaned her face closer, her forehead almost touching his.

  “I want to find out where the sheol weed is coming from and I want to see if I can stop it,” he whispered, “I think the weed is somehow tied to the reason no one cares about us out here anymore.”

  “Theo!” she growled, pulling away from him and focusing her attention back on her smoothie.

  “What?” he asked.

  She appeared to ignore him as she tucked the straw between her lips and inhaled nearly a quarter of the smoothie. She released the straw and just stared at her beverage.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “You are what’s wrong. You never make sense and heaven only knows what makes you tick,” she said.

  “Now you’re the one making no sense,” he said.

  She turned quickly to him and placed her hand on top of his.

  “Listen, Theo. You and I are friends, right?” she asked, looking intently into his eyes.

  “Yes, of course.”

  “You are messed up in the head right now and you’re probably depressed enough to run off to another star system and leave your mother here to fend for herself. You need to focus and relax long enough to get your mind back on track,” she said, taking his hand completely in hers, “While I never thought I’d say this to you, I think it’s high time. How about you and I go back to the hotel for a little while and… relax?”

  “Really?” he gasped, “I mean, you’re definitely beautiful and you probably know I’ve had a crush on you since I was eight, but… you’re just messing with me, right? Besides, I don’t know if you realize this, but those aren’t really ‘hotels’ anymore.”

  She turned to him, holding his hand now in both of hers. His knuckles were dangerously close to touching her bare knee.

  “You’re the only one who’s ever respected me, Theo. You even look at me differently than all the others. For once, I w
onder what it would be like to be more than just a five-credit plaything.”

  “Plaything?” he barely breathed the word because he couldn’t find his voice, “You’re a… I-I can’t believe I never knew. You’re just a kid. You can’t-”

  “Oh no,” she muttered, “You really are as innocent as you act. Don’t hate me.”

  She rose quickly from her seat and rushed toward the door. Theo gave chase, but she was much faster. By the time he was outside the bar, she was already halfway down the corridor.

  “Jill!” he hollered, but she never turned.

  He placed his face in his hands, then leaned back against the plastic palm tree outside The Flamingo Lounge. He slid down until he was sitting on the floor.

  “We’re losing everything inside this hell. We’ve pretty much lost it all. This was supposed to be just a watering port,” he groaned, “Just a small way station.”

  “We’re going to lose a lot more, too,” a voice muttered beside him.

  He removed his hands from his face and looked up at the bearded man beside him. He’d seen this tattered man loitering around these corridors multiple times. His clothes were always dirty and frayed. His graying hair was always unkempt and his wiry beard stretched halfway down his chest.

  “What else is there to lose?” Theo asked, dropping his gaze to the floor.

  “The ships are smaller now. They’ve created a faster method to go from place to place, so the ships are now being built with space for only one water tank,” he said, “One tank per ship means less trade for the station. Less trade… well, that means things are going to get plenty worse here.”

  “Where, may I ask, do you get this information?” Theo asked.

  “My clientele come from all walks of life and I like to listen when people around me talk,” he said, “People will always need water for their ships, don’t get me wrong. But the need is going to decrease significantly. This means that the Oort Station is going to eventually become a ghost town.”

  “So, what do you propose we do?” Theo asked, suddenly growing concerned for his mother’s future.

  “Do? You’ve got it all wrong, boy. What can we do?” he said with a throaty laugh.

  A clear bag filled with something green landed on the floor next to Theo’s feet. He glanced down at the bag and hoped it wasn’t what it looked like.

  “It’s on the house, my friend. If you need more, I’ll be around,” he said, swiftly stepping away and starting down the corridor.

  Sheol weed.

  Six

  His mother was washing the dishes when he arrived home that evening. He joined her in the kitchen and asked about her day.

  “Same old stuff, different day. What’d you do to pass the time today?” she asked, rinsing the last bowl and placing it in the strainer.

  “Today was a learning experience, and not a good one. Do you remember Jill?” he asked, leaning in the entryway, “Light brown hair and used to have a weird lisp? She’s a prostitute, Mom.”

  Her head bobbed as she turned off the water. She dried her hands on a small towel, then turned to him.

  “She went to school with you, right?” she asked, “The girl with all the sisters on level fifteen.”

  “Yes. That means she’s probably like sixteen or seventeen!” he droned, “Mom, she’s too sweet and nice and pretty and… and what am I supposed to do? How do I fix everything that’s wrong with our dying world? It’s like everything is crumbling all at once.”

  “It’s not your job to fix everything that’s wrong, Theo,” she smiled sweetly, “If it were, you’d never get a moment’s rest. I don’t know about her life situation, but I’d be willing to bet that Jill doesn’t want to be doing what she’s doing.”

  “Then why, Mom?” he demanded, “Why’d she trick me into thinking she was a normal girl?”

  She placed the towel on the counter and looked at him.

  “If you pause the world for just a moment and think about everything you two have talked about, you’d probably see that she never tricked you at all. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that she saw you as a friend and she treated you as dear one in every way,” she said, “Didn’t you two used to hang out on twenty-six after work? She’s the confidant you would unload on after a bad day, right? Imagine how she saw you for a moment.”

  He looked at her, pondering his mother’s words. Then he closed his eyes. Her words rang in his head as he turned and headed toward the bedroom.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “I just want to take a short nap before dinner, Mom.”

  Her words echoed over and over in his head: “If you pause the world for just a moment and think…”

  “If you pause the world for just a moment…”

  “If you pause the world…”

  It seemed like everyone was trying to tell him the same thing.

  . . . .

  It didn’t taste the way he imagined it would. Actually, the green leaf had no taste whatsoever. He wasn’t sure what people did with the leaf beyond simply chewing it, so after chewing the bite into mush, he swallowed it.

  Darkness… Pitch black…

  He opened his eyes.

  Something was wrong…

  Everything had a grayish tint to it as though he were looking through a dirty lens. He jolted upright, startled by something. He knew what it was in an instant.

  Movement in the corner…

  He turned to the corner, but the black wraith shot too quickly across the room. He leapt from the bed to chase it down, but something was wrong with his legs. His limbs moved much slower than he willed them to. It felt like he was moving through water.

  “If you pause the world for just a moment and think…”

  “It’s not a drug or a hallucinogen!”

  “It’s not a drug!”

  Their words swirled through his mind as he struggled to understand the world around him. He now understood what Mrs. Titus was saying. This was definitely not a drug-induced state of being. He was fully alert and none of his surroundings were melting or hazy in appearance.

  He moved as quickly as he could through the thick substance that should have merely been air. Now he caught sight of another wraith in the kitchen. This particular one was hovering around the frozen statue that was once his mother. She was holding a tomato in one hand and a knife in the other. Two slices rested on the plate beside the tomato and another partial slice was bowed downward while her knife had somehow paused in its passage through the fruit’s flesh.

  The wraith turned to Theo suddenly, then it floated slowly away from his mother.

  “No, Theophilus. Tell me you didn’t.”

  The voice came from somewhere in the gray world. The words pummeled him from all directions.

  “Theo” “THEOPHILUS” “Theo, boy” “THEO” “Theophilus”

  The voices overlapped each other, all saying his name. He looked up at the ceiling, trying to find the source of all the words that crowded him. He returned his gaze toward his mother, but instead, all he saw was a human face directly in front of his.

  He screamed and jumped backward.

  “Theo.”

  It was his father. The face of the ghost was that of his father.

  “You don’t belong here. Don’t ever come back.”

  He felt a strong urge to return to the bedroom, but he fought it. He turned around and realized now that more than a dozen ghosts, all with gray human faces, surrounded him.

  “It surrounds you but you’re safe from it in your own world. It’s when you toy with places you don’t understand that you risk everything. Stay away or you will certainly never escape this place. There are those here who want you to stay.”

  Theo turned back to his father and saw even more ghosts. The whole room was filling up quickly.

  “They see an open door and believe they can escape. Soon, there will be thousands. Get out! Now!”

  Theo finally understood. He pushed through the ghosts, hoping their smo
ky arms had no substance. He remembered that many people who used the sheol weed committed suicide shortly thereafter. Did they do it in order to try to stay with their lost loved ones? Was that really his dead father or was it his mind playing tricks on him?

  Theo screamed as he entered the bedroom. Much to his shock, there was a dead body on his bed. It took him a moment to realize the body was his own.

  “Go to it, Theo. Reclaim it before you can’t anymore!”

  He examined the body. The prostrate figure’s hand still held onto a partial leaf of the drug he’d bitten.

  “If you want to go home alive, you’d better return to your body.”

  “Is this real, Dad?”

  His father slithered through the wall and faced him again.

  “What did I tell you that night when you asked me about the risks of working in the vacuum of space?”

  “Do you mean, when I asked ‘what if you died’?”

  “Yes, what did I reply?”

  “You said that you’d never leave us.”

  “And where did you just find me?”

  He stared at the face of a man he hadn’t seen in years. In spite of the stony gray flesh, he could still see the gentle soul that was his father.

  “With Mom.”

  “Exactly. I never lied to you, son.”

  “But she was frozen, Dad. You can’t see what she’s doing. You can’t hear her and you can’t talk to her.”

  “I never said this was heaven.”

  Seven

  He couldn’t risk telling his mother what happened. He awoke with the shakes that he attributed more to a torturous fear than anything else. If his father could see him now from his place in the ghost world, he would only see a stoic version of him frozen in mid-shake. That version would seem no different to his father than any other vision he caught of his son now. His father was left in a world of gray statues.