Orion Company
By Mr. J.
Chapter X: Between Hell and Back
Gray skies block out the sun on Anna as she walks down the lonely dirt road, boots kicking up dust. A cool breeze ruffles her blonde locks along with the trees. Fallow fields dance in the gust, shaking in sensuous motion. Anna glances over her shoulder as she zips her jacket, trying to make sense of how she ended up in such a barren place.
“Where am I?” She wonders aloud. “How did I get here?”
The interminable trail stretches for miles without end. The cool air chills her skin as she makes the agonizing journey, step by awful step. She takes comfort in the sweater and vest she wears underneath, yet she still manages to get goosebumps. Anna brushes aside the fear long enough to scan for clues. All she has to work with are decayed vegetables and mechanical scarecrows.
“It’s mid-fall.” She murmurs to herself. “The leftover grains would’ve been reaped around Harvest Day. But there aren’t any signs of instruments or human activity...”
She flashes back to the celebrations in her rural neighborhood. Every fall a bonfire would’ve been set up in every field and yard. The families would gather around, dance and offer sacrifices of fruit and mead to the gods. Giant logs of firewood would be set up in city squares in some of the larger communities—communities like her uncle’s. She still remembers the scent of birch and cedar when she visited her uncle in the bustling city. The crackling of the wood still brings a smile to her face many years later. How her father managed to corral the entire family inside the horseless carriage to make the hours-long journey is beyond her.
Anna squints. She furrows her brow and examines the area more closely. A nagging sense of familiarity dogs her mind. It feels so real, yet why?
She struggles to put her finger on it. She racks her brain as she strolls down the road. Anna comes up with blanks. There’s something odd about this place—but what?
She spies a lone house in the distance. Despite it’s weathered appearance, the red facade is far from faded. Anna proceeds cautiously. She grasps the laser pistol on her hip, as if to remind herself that it’s there.
“Maybe there’s someone inside who can tell me where I am.”
As she walks slowly towards the storm door, she spies a figure waiting inside. The woman watches anxiously with her arms crossed. Her fiery locks and striking face are strange. Yet there is something about her that Anna can’t shake...
Before she can grab ahold of her weapon the older woman embraces her in an affectionate bear hug.
“Welcome home, Sis.”
“Dana?”
“I knew you’d make it. Mother’s just put the coffee on the pot. Why don’t you sit down?”
“Mom’s been dead for over four years now,” Anna blinks. “and since when have you called her that? It’s like she’s a headmistress or something.”
Anna gazes at her sister. Her sister stares awkwardly back as the slits in her eyes dilate minute to minute. Anna backs away slowly.
“Is something wrong?” Dana frowns. “Don’t you recognize me?”
“Dana...your eyes. You’re different.”
“You look tired,” Dana grabs her sister’s arm. “maybe you should lie down...”
Anna swats her away.
Anna’s mother joins them, followed by her father and Nana, their reptillian eyes gazing back at her. Anna rushes for the door, yet it refuses to budge to her chagrin. Her screams rent the air .
Anna awakens in a cold sweat. The cell block buzzes as inmates converse in low voices. Orgasmic moans reverberate as the prisoner above her pleasures herself. But mostly there is an eerie quiet.
Panoptic cells stretch into the horizon as Anna gleans through the laser beams holding her inside. They cluster together almost like a honeycomb as they rise toward the sky. Prisoners mope around, watch tv, even make love. But the one thing Anna can’t see are her captors.
Very few Vang patrol the block proper, but why would they? Video cameras record their every move. Those few who obey get a visit from the sentinels, robotic agents whose job it is to pacify the troublemakers. If that fails, a squad of well-placed guards patrol the blind spots. A prisoner would be a fool to want to escape.
Anna gazes at her blue dress gown. The hem terminates way above the knee—too short for her comfort. Anyone with a view can gaze at her thighs—or use their imagination. She might as well be naked.
“Welcome to the Vang Hilton.” Anna studies her too-small cell.
A lone toilet rests in a corner. Chest-beating nationalistic displays run in an endless loop on the TV as the Vang national anthem blares over the speakers. A feminine voice interrupts every so often to remind the prisoners that they are guests of their reptillian masters, as if they have any choice in obeying them.
But there is little else to do.
Anna groans as as she pulls herself off the hard metal floor. Vague memories of being pinned on her knees floats to the fore. She sees herself gazing back at the lizard creature, grinning slyly as her head bobs up and down...
“No.” Anna shakes her head. “I couldn’t have...”
Jumbled images flit through her head. Anna draws up blanks as she searches her brain for answers. She grimaces as her head throbs.
“How long have I been here?”
She spies a dark figure out of the corner of her eye, floating in the dimly lit sky. It appears to be a tiny dot at first—hardly something worth worrying about. She rubs her eyes, wondering if it is a figment of her imagination. But as the object becomes larger she can just make out the silhouette of a shimmering woman in the gloom. The figure flies through the air at a fast clip, almost as if it were a—
Anna jolts as the beams disappear.
“Anna?” A familiar voice shocks her back into reality. “Is that you?”
Anna glances at the masked woman hovering outside her cell, her black, skin-tight suit and boots looking nothing like the sister she left behind on her home planet years before. Her arms are chiseled and more defined. This is not the body of a woman languishing in a cell. This is a woman who’s got arms—and knows how to use them.
“I thought you were gone...” Anna stutters.
“I can explain later,” Dana glances over her shoulder. “the sentinels will be here any minute now. We don’t have much time.”
Anna looks her sister over. If this is really her sister, why would she be dressed like a superhero without a cape? She wonders if it is a trick of the mind the Vang are pulling on her to see if she’d reveal her secrets. But if that were the case, they’d know everything already...
“I know what you’re think.” Dana seems to answers her question. “But it’s not a dream. I’m really here. You’re free.”
She glances over her shoulder at the gleaming hulks of metal careening towards her, their metallic fists clenched in anger. She can just make out the outline of their bodies. Her heart races.
“Thirty seconds,” Dana observes. “You have to make a decision.”
Anna takes her sister by the hand. Laser beams flit through the air as the sentinels fire at them. The sisters dodge bullets as they fly towards the ceiling, evading the robots at every turn. Anna shuts her eyes.
“Please make it stop!”
“Be patient!” Dana adjust the knobs on her utility belt.
The lasers continue to whiz by as the pair flies through the air. Their hair flutters in a breeze as a vortex opens in empty space. It envelops them as they enter through it. Then: whiteness.
The sentinels look on as the prison is bathed in light, recording what they witness in their databanks.
###
Vanessa scrubs the floor on her hands and knees as she mops up the remains of the Vang’s semen. There’s no mistaking the tell-tale purplish spooge. There must be enough genetic material to impregnate at least a dozen women, maybe more. Whoever intercepted Anna and the crew definitely took his time before leaving with his hands full.
She wonders what those last minutes were like. Were they scared? Angry? Excited? She takes comfort in the idea that their brains were too overloaded with lust to register that they’ve been captured.
But how it happened remains a mystery.
Vanessa stares into deep space. The vessel had to be stealthy for Anna and Nikki not to notice, much less the captain. They were too busy trying to reestablish power. By the time the Vang boarded the ship, In any case, by the time the Orion was boarded, it was too late. They were sitting ducks, and there wasn’t much anyone could do about it.
“I had to reboot the system manually.” Caitlin wipes the sweat from her brow as she strolls into the comm. “Communications are hinky, but the rest of the control systems should be fine.”
“That was quick.”
“We should have more than enough food and water to last us several months until we get to the nearest checkpoint. We can file a report with the patrol officers then.”
“Not good enough.” Vanessa doesn’t miss a beat. “We need to establish communications now.”
“It could be days or even weeks before the vidscreens are back up.”
“What about the tablets? Can’t we use those?”
“We have to try.”
Caitlin puts her hands on her hips.
“You won’t let it go, will you?” She stares at Vanessa.
“I know they’re alive.” Vanessa glances up from the floor.
“They’re gone for good, Vanessa. Like it or not I’m all you’ve got now.”
“I don’t believe that.”
The locket around Vanessa’s neck glimmers in the dimly lit comm. It rests between her breasts, the sole reminder of Anna’s presence. Caitlin keen eyes seize on it immediately. She glares at Vanessa as she points an accused finger at her.
“Is that what I think it is?”
“I found it on her nightstand.” Vanessa clutches the locket. “I like the way it makes me feel. It gives me a sense that a part of her is still with us—like she’s living through it, almost.”
“A hour has passed and already you’re raiding her stuff like some graverobber. I bet when she isn’t giving head she’s thinking ‘I sure hope Vanessa gets some use out of my old jewelry I don’t even wear anymore’. If she isn’t half-gone, that is...”
Vanessa lunges at Caitlin, nearly fsalling in the same genetic material she cleaned moments earlier. She pins Caitlin to the wall, seething with anger. Caitlin glares at her as hands tighten around her neck. Her neck tickles.
“You don’t even have the guts..” Caitlin growls.
Vanessa raises her fist to strike. Her arms waver before she gives up entirely. Caitlin chuckles as Vanessa lets her go.
“You never cease to amaze me, you know that?”
“If you have even an ounce of dignity, you’ll help me file a report.” Vanessa gazes at her. “Or by Jove, I’ll make sure you next breath is your last.”
“Clean this mess up and you have yourself a deal.”
“Whatever you say, captain.” Vanessa salutes sarcastically.
Later in the evening she stares through the portside window of Anna’s room as she climbs into her nightgown. The stars twinkle with a whitish glow as the lights dim. Comets fly by and disappear almost as quickly as Vanessa crawls into bed, bloodshot eyes hinting at a long day spent scrubbing, cleaning, fixing. Her mind wanders as she stares at the ceiling.
Vanessa sighs.
“Anna, if you’re out there, I promise help is on the way. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But someday. Be strong for me...”
The locket shimmers with a greenish sheen. The light gradually brightens until it fills it bathes the entire room in an emerald hue. Vanessa rubs her eyes, as if to remind herself that it’s only an illusion. Five minutes later, room still glows.
“What the?”
The heat warms her palms as she clutches the locket tightly. It changes hues from a forest to an almost ocean green, morphing colors from second to second. The activity excites Vanessa as she bolts up. The warmth gradually envelops her until her body is bathed in it.
A calming feeling overwhelms her as she stares at the locket. Her shoulders slacken. An feeling of ecstacy overtakes her as she lies on the bed. Vanessa smiles.
“You’re alive!” She exclaims. “I knew it!”
The light fades just as quickly until she’s bathed in darkness. Vanessa frowns as the joy leaves her. Her chest tightens as footfalls echo outside. She sighs.
“Are you okay?” Caitlin pokes her head in. “I heard you talking to someone in here.”
“I’m good.” Vanessa nods.
“Are you sure?”
“Positively!”
Caitlin shakes her head ruefully as she walks back to her quarters, certain that Vanessa is nearing the bend. As she drifts off to sleep, she gazes at the laser pistol on her nightstand, wondering how long it’ll be until Vanessa becomes a problem to take care of. But that is for another time. And another day.