Descent Into Madness

by Daniel Peyton

  The General turned off his computer and took a long breath, all while giving Bark a commanding gaze. Bark felt like a wayward child awaiting his punishment. The General finally spoke. “I have come to understand that you and Ms. Snow are very close.”

  Bark’s worst fears were coming true. He was discovered. What did The General know? “Uh…well…you see…we…”

  The General gave Bark a curious look with a raised eyebrow. “You two are together?”

  Bark quickly nodded, “Y…yes. We are a couple. She's my girlfriend, and I'm her boyfriend. Is there a problem with that?”

  The General slowly shook his head. “Yes and no. It is policy to not allow the staff to have any kind of romantic relationship with anyone else on the staff. It was expected of the students as well, but there was never a written rule for them. We had flirts who almost crossed the line at times.”

  Bark replied, “Spark.”

  The General gave him a we’re-not-here-to-talk-about-that look. “When you first arrived, you and Ms. Snow bonded and it helped you. When I was ready to stop it, Dr. Stone came to your rescue and told me that it was a good relationship and not to try and break it up. So, I allowed it.”

  Bark gulped again and said, “Thank you.”

  “But, there are rules I'm not going to break, bend, or ignore. A high school boyfriend/girlfriend relationship is enough. Intimacy is another thing.”

  Bark just about shed all of his fur at that moment. The General knew. “I'm so sorry. It was a weak moment. I was tired, and she was on top of me. And, you see, we just…”

  The General held up his hand. “I know about the birds and the bees, thank you.”

  Bark looked down. “Sorry.”

  The General let out a long sigh. “We have a problem. If students start getting intimate too often, it will affect their grades, their work, and ultimately the entire social structure of the UCH.”

  Bark couldn’t really see how his intimate relationship with Snow could bring down the rigid social structure of the entire UCH, but he was not about to argue with The General. “It has only happened once. I promise you, it won’t happen again. Please do not break us up.”

  The General sort of smiled. “If I wanted you two to not be together, you would not be going on this mission with her. In fact, you would not even see her in class.”

  Bark smiled brightly. “So, you aren’t asking us to end our relationship?”

  The General shook his head. “No. Young man, you saved every person’s life on this station. You put yourself in a dangerous position to secure our welfare. While I follow the rules around here, I think your actions have earned you a few allowances. What I brought you in here to say is this: you two cannot replay that incident again, not unless you plan on being married.”

  Bark’s eyes widened until it felt like his eyeballs were going to plop right out of his head. Was The General going to order him to get married? “What are you saying?”

  The General stood up and walked around the desk to look at Bark. “That girl is one of the best students we have. You're right up there with her. The students look up to both of you. I want to make sure that you two are serious. If you're just playing around, then you'll see the end of this relationship. But, if you're going to marry her, then you had better do it. Prove to me that you're both sincere.”

  Bark looked right at The General, smiled, and nodded. “I want to be with her for the rest of my life.”

  “Good. Now, make it official soon. I hate long engagements.”

  Bark stood up. “Can I leave now?”

  The smile disappeared off The General’s face. “There's one more thing.”

  Bark did not know whether to be excited or scared. “What is it?”

  “The investigation in the Green Scream case has turned up something interesting. Apparently, someone had transferred a large sum of money into his bank account as a down payment for him to do what he did. After consultation with the council, we've come to the conclusion that the person who deserves it most is you.”

  Bark was confused. “But he hurt the whole station. Not just me.”

  The General nodded. “That's true, and the council first considered just letting the UCH have the money for repairs and such. But, I know that you have nothing. We're your friends, your family, and your support. Almost everyone else on this station has a home and family on Earth, you only have the UCH. You've put your life on the line for us and never asked for anything in return. I think it’s high time that you earn something for that. Besides, we do know that someone had a special interest in obtaining you; that money was specifically payment for your head. It only makes sense to let you have it. The money is yours, if you wish to take it.”

  Bark thought. He really didn’t need money right now, as the UCH supplied his needs. But there was something that he wanted to do, and it required money. And, if he ever wanted to have a normal life, he would need some capital to make it happen. So, with a smile and a nod, Bark accepted. “I’ll take it.”

  The General tossed over a bank card. “Thought you might. This is set up with an account at the Central Globe International Bank. The money is there for you to spend as you see fit. Use it wisely.”

  Bark took the card and smiled. “Exactly how much is on this?”

  The General turned in his seat, picked up a small bankbook, and handed it to him. “Keep that safe; it has all your information in it.”

  Bark opened the book and his eyes bugged out, his tail wagged, and he just about fainted. “Wow.”

  “Yup. Looks like whoever paid him had the money to spend. Since we can’t trace it, it was just floating in limbo. Now, it’s all yours. Don’t spend it all in one place.”

  Bark stood up and then properly asked, “Am I dismissed?”

  “Yes, yes. Go and get ready for the mission.”

  Bark nodded and said, “Yes, sir.” He turned and started to walk out while The General headed back to his paperwork. Just before opening the door, Bark turned around. “Uh, can I ask a favor?”

  The General stopped shuffling the papers. "Yes?”

  “After the mission, can I stay in Knoxville for a little longer? I want to look for something. Something for Snow. I don’t want Snow to know, so I need another shuttle to come and pick me up when I'm done.”

  The General nodded. “Yes, you can have two extra hours down there. But, if you're late, you will get a lower grade on the mission.”

  Bark nodded. “Of course. Just one more thing.”

  The General knew what was coming next and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell Snow. The extra time will be part of your orders.”

  Bark smiled brightly. “Thanks. Bye.” He left the old general to his work.

  Finally alone, The General pushed aside all the student reports and looked at some of the intel from central services. He muttered to himself, “Ah, to be young and in love.”

  Chapter 3: Secrets

  “Are you going to cradle that flower through the whole mission?” Spark walked past Snow, who sat in the shuttle, holding a star lily in her arms.

  Snow smiled and looked at the flower. “No, I'll leave it on the shuttle. I just wanted to have one of them with me.”

  “Where did you get that,” Spark asked her while he sat in the pilot’s seat.

  Snow, who was sitting in a passenger’s seat waiting for Bark to sit next to her, answered, “It was an anniversary gift from my boyfriend. A bundle of five were delivered to my room early this morning with a little note that said, ‘Happy Anniversary from your loyal pet.’”

  “Anniversary? You two aren’t even married,” Spark retorted.

  Snow let out a huff. “There are other anniversaries.”

  “Good lord, I hope I don’t find a girl worried about silly stuff like that. I have a hard enough time remembering which movie I saw with my last date.”

  Snow chuckled. “That’s because you grow six extra arms and spend the whole date tr
ying to wrap them all over your girl and smooch like a fifteen-year-old.”

  Spark pulled down a mirror and looked at her through it. “And how would you know? You never went on a date with me.”

  Snow gave him a look that both excited and frightened him. “Be glad that I didn’t. You might have found yourself missing body parts. Besides, I'm a girl who likes silly things like various anniversaries, and I have a man who remembers them.”

  “Speaking of the mutt, where is he?” Spark looked out the open door into the docking bay.

  Snow scoffed at him. “I thought you two were friends.”

  “Huh?”

  “Calling him ‘mutt’ is rude.”

  Just then, Bark came up the steps into the shuttle. He answered for Spark, having heard both of them as he approached. “It’s okay. I am sort of a mutt, a mixed breed. Human and various dogs.”

  Spark looked back at Snow through the mirror and said, “Ha.”

  Snow shook her head and then turned her attention to her boyfriend. “What took you so long to get here?”

  Bark smiled and held up a small bar of metal in his hands. “I found this in the replication database and thought it would be a good thing for me to have.”

  Spark looked over at Bark and the metal bar. “What is that, some kind of nightstick?”

  Bark held it up in one hand and flicked his wrist, and the bar expanded out to be nearly the length of the Bo staff he trained with. “It's my weapon. If I'm going to fight anyone, I would like to be armed.” He pressed on part of it with his thumb and pushed it back together, telescoping the sections down to the small bar that it started out as. “My only problem is that I still don’t have a place to put it while I'm not using it.”

  Spark’s face broke out into his infamous smirk. “You could always tuck it into those briefs. Would certainly add to the –”

  “Spark!” Snow knew exactly where he was going with this.

  Bark was frowning, not quite understanding that at first. Then it hit him and he rolled his eyes at Spark.

  Spark, ignoring them, pressed a button. The shuttle doors closed and the engines started warming up. “Take your seats, we'll get going as soon as I get the all clear.”

  “Hey, can I pilot,” Bark asked.

  Spark smiled and shook his head. “No. You've done well with your pilot lessons over the past two weeks, but you aren’t certified yet and I don’t want to be reprimanded. Just sit and stay.” He couldn’t curb the dog puns.

  Bark walked over and sat next to Snow. The seats on the little shuttle were set up in pairs, two pairs on one side, an aisle between them, and another two pairs on the other side. The pair of seats made a perfect place for the cozy lovers to sit and enjoy each other’s company while en route to their destination.

  Snow buckled in, leaned over to Bark, and said, “Thank you again for the flowers. I absolutely love them.”

  Bark grinned. “Anything to make you smile.”

  “What is that for,” Snow asked, noticing the wallet Bark was holding.

  “Uh, I keep a small communicator in it. You know, in case I need to contact the station after my mission.” He wasn't lying, but he omitted certain details.

  Spark nodded. “Yeah, I got those orders. You're to stay behind for two extra hours for an undisclosed mission. What did you and The General talk about?”

  Snow shot Bark a worried look. “The General asked to speak with you? What about?”

  Bark looked terribly embarrassed, but answered, “It seems our, um, intimacy…is not a secret.”

  Snow gasped. “Did he punish you? Am I in trouble?”

  “No. Apparently saving the station and everyone aboard grants me a little allowance. But I don’t think we should push it any further. Not right now.”

  Spark smirked in the mirror at them. “So curb the tail wagging.”

  “Cool it,” Snow said, glaring right back at Spark. Then she nodded at her boyfriend. “I see. I guess we need to find less seductive ways to express ourselves.”

  Bark nodded. “It would help if you didn’t play with my shorts and press up against me all the time. I love it, but it can, uh, excite us too much.”

  Spark stuck both eyebrows up. “Playing with shorts. Pressing bodies together. I miss all the fun.”

  Snow didn’t respond to the little boy in the pilot’s seat and addressed her man. “Alright. Did he say anything else?”

  Bark shook his head and lied, “Nothing else.”

  Spark asked, “What's this extra mission?”

  Bark looked at him, then at Snow and smiled a very fake smile. “I can’t talk about it. A secret meeting of sorts. You'll find out later.”

  Just then, the docking controller came to Bark’s rescue by announcing through the com system, “Shuttle seven, you are cleared to leave.”

  “Understood. Shuttle seven out. Buckle up everyone; we are ready to go.” Spark turned on the nav system and the shuttles engines started to roar.

  The docking bay cleared out and the doors opened. The shields dropped and the shuttle lifted off of the metallic ground. In moments it was out of the bay and heading for earth. After leaving the bay, the shuttle employed its holographic cloaking system. Each shuttle uses a unique technology that disguises the ship. The ship is wrapped in a hologram that can render it invisible or shift its appearance into anything that is needed to protect it and get to the places it needs to be. To keep from frightening people, the cloak is normally set to invisible. This way when it enters earth’s atmosphere, there aren’t a dozen UFO sightings reported.

  ***

  The Tennessee State Bank’s home office was busy today. With so many files to be filed, meetings to be attended, and budgets to be approved, it was dull unless you enjoyed that sort of life. Max was happy with it. In his little cubicle, he was content to run a small piece of this mini economic empire.

  “Hey, Max, the team wants to hold a lunch meeting at Calhoun’s. You up for that?” Max looked up to find one of his co-workers leaned against his cubicle door.

  The short, balding, middle-aged accountant set down his paperwork and then picked up another stack. “Maybe, if I get this crap taken care of. They won’t like it much if I make a mistake with the numbers.”

  The coworker shrugged and said, “Don’t worry about it. It's just an opportunity to use the company credit card for a few good beers. You can come next time.”

  Max nodded. “Sure. Remember to keep your receipts. Last time we didn’t get the money back.”

  “Gotcha. See you at the meeting later.’’ The coworker headed off to have fun on the company’s dime.

  Max shook his head. He never approved of wasting company money just because technically you can. He worked and worked, hardly noticing that his lunch hour was being wasted and he was going to be very hungry for the rest of the day. Finally, he glanced up at his clock and noticed that it was a quarter till noon, and he decided he might as well run and get something to eat.

  He set aside his papers and stood up. While he was adjusting his tie, he heard a huge thunk against the roof. He frowned at the ceiling and tried to figure out what on earth could be making such a racket up there. This was the top floor; anything above that was outdoors. Surely no one was working on the roof today. He hadn’t seen any requisition forms for air conditioning repair or other roof work, and that would have crossed his desk.

  His curiosity got the best of him. He had to find out what was up there. Passing the maze of cube dwellers, he walked up a small flight of stairs and exited through a little door to the roof where maintenance could get to the air conditioning units if they needed repair.

  Max was not prepared for what he saw. There was an armored man standing there with his back to Max, seemingly looking down. Max wasn’t sure if this person was looking down or not; he could not see his head. The armor was colorful and bulky. Could this be one of those superheroes that he had heard so much about? Or worse, could it be a vi
llain? This was a banking headquarters, but they really didn’t keep a lot of money on hand here.

  “Hello, sir. Can I help you?”

  The armored man turned around and Max nearly swallowed his teeth. Whatever this thing was, it had no head and, despite its decapitation, it seemed very much alive. And to make matters more confusing, it spoke to him. “Do not worry, citizen. I am here to assist during this time of crisis.”

  Max rasped out in a timid voice. “Crisis? What sort of crisis?”

  “Information incomplete,” it stated in a very robotic voice.

  Max stepped back as if to run away, but another part of him wanted to know more. “Is there something I should know? Is Knoxville in any danger?”

  The suit of armor appeared as if it were about to answer when a small light on the chest blinked and it turned around to look into the sky. “Please get to safety, I will eliminate this threat.” Without another word of warning, the body bent at the knees and leapt straight into the air, flying off at an incredible speed. Max was nearly knocked over by the ensuing shockwave from its launching.

  “Good God, what's going on?!” Max composed himself and ran towards the door saying, “I gotta warn everyone.” He had no idea what was happening, but he watched the news every night. The last time there was some kind of invasion in a large city, half of that city was turned to rubble.

  Chapter 4: The Encounter

  Bark quietly watched Snow caress the flower he had given her. She had beautiful hands, and her eyes were something he could get lost in.

  Snow noticed he was silently staring at her and smiled at him with a curious brow. “Bark?”

  Bark looked into her beautiful blue eyes with a smile and said, “I don't deserve you.”

  Snow blushed, but it was Spark who responded. “Not in the least. God only knows why you got her when I was perfectly free.” He was joking, of course.

  Snow gave Spark a smug glance and said, “You were never even on my radar. I wanted a man who asked before he touched.”