Orion Company
By Mr. J.
CHAPTER III: Flashbacks
Anna ignores the red clay staining her feet as she walks barefoot down the dirt road leading to her parent’s house. She bites down hard on the piece of straw and grasps it between her fingers in imitation of her father, imagining wafts of smoke rising from his cigar. She stops momentarily to wipe the dirt on her shorts, staring at the pink horizon.
“What are you looking at?” Her sister teases her.
“Oh, nothing but the skyline.” Anna fires back as she watches the sun recede into the ground. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
It’s midsummer, and Anna’s neck is red from the afternoon adventure skipping across rocks along the creek bed near her parent’s home. It’s the end of freshman year at Asimov University—the first time she’s visited her cow town village a hundred-miles away since classes started. For the overachieving student, the sight of her sister is bittersweet. Older and prettier by miles, Dana opens up a floodgate of old insecurities for Anna, both physically and otherwise. Yet for a brief moment, the eighteen year old and her much older sister have regressed to being childhood friends again.
Anna rubs her shoulders self-consciously as they stare at the pink horizon. Her shoes are caked with dirt. She’ll have to take a shower when she gets in—though whether her older sister beats her to it is another question.
“Damn,” Dana mutters. “I keep coming back here and I still can’t get over it.”
“The view?”
“No, your doe-eyed face, you pompous egghead.”
“Hey!” Anna kids. “I resent that remark!”
“As much as you resent me for having a boyfriend?”
“You call Jimmy Williams a boyfriend?” Anna glances at her strawberry blonde sibling. “Have you seen his tattoos? He’s an accident waiting to happen.”
“Now you’re being jealous.”
“You and I both know the only reason he’s going out with you is because of your tits. Soon as he enrolls in the Academy he’s going to move on to someone prettier and skankier.”
“Says the girl who has none.”
The comment cuts deep. Though they’re separated by two years, Dana has always had no trouble flaunting her assets, a fact not lost on either of them. As a student in creche she was the Being adult-looking, “mature” girl, with her pick of the prurient litter. Her late night dalliances are the stuff of legend in their household, yet the wild child has no shortage of suitors—and no signs of slowing down Meanwhile, it is all her late bloomer sister can do to get a boy to say as much as hello.
Except for a handful of girls Anna studies with who are little more than acquaintances, relationships—real relationships—are fleeting. No wonder she’s such a bookworm.
“Well at least I’m not a whore.” Anna shoots back at Dana.
“Of course you’re not—you’re too busy reading those Jovedamn books.”
“I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”
“Well at least I’m not locked in my room wondering why I don’t have friends.”
Anna rushes toward her sister and grapples with her. The teenagers spar with each other for the next several seconds, Dana struggling to pins her sister on the ground, demanding an apology. The fight only briefly, but it is enough to leave Anna feeling sheepish. She lets her sister go and helps her up.
“Sorry, Dana.” She lowers her head. “I don’t know what came over me.”
“S’okay.” Dana massages her forearm.“That hurt. Have you considered going into women’s wrestling?”
“The last thing is someone’s poonani all up in my face, if you excuse my Hindu.”
Dana rolls her eyes and the pair continues to walk along the road when they spy a trio of emerald lights hovering over their dome shaped house. The ground shakes, knocking them down. A flash of white light temporarily blinds them. They regain their footing moments later.
“Mother, father...” Anna runs toward the residence.
“Don’t!” Dana grabs. “We don’t know what it is.”
“But Mom and Dad...”
“The best thing we can do is call the authorities.”
“But The nearest police station is twenty miles away.”
“Dammit!”
Anna wrestles free and sprints toward the house. Her sister brings up the rear, heart leaping out of her chest. The thought of anything bad happening to her parents is disturbing enough. Dana keeps a close eye on her sister, ready to intervene in a moment’s notice. Adrenaline courses through both their veins as they watch the lights stay in place, as if waiting for something.
Or someone.
Anna spies the front door lies in the grass, ripped out of its frame. She glances into a house strewn with documents, chairs and furniture tossed around like props on a stage. She struggles to remain calm as she calls out her parent’s names, growing more and more desperate with each passing minute.
“Where are they?” Dana catches up with her.
“It’s hard to say,” Anna surveys the furniture. “They could be huddled in a closet or bathroom.
“Maybe they took cover.” Dana excuses herself. “I’ll check the pantry and master bath just in case...”
Doors squeak and boots reverberate through the house as they look despearately for any signs of life. Anna’s optimism does little to quell the pang-pang-pang of her heart beating furiously. She tries to remain hopeful, but each passing minutes without sight of her parents diminishes it more and more.
“No sign of either of them...” Dana returns. “None of this adds up.”
“Do you think a twister took them?”
“Something tells me no...” Dana stares at the shafts of greenish light dancing on the floor.
It glows ominously, intensifying and dimming in an alternating display of hues. Dana’s eyes remain glued as she watches it appear and disappear. Even as she continues to stare, a dull hum reverberates in the back of her head. She tears herself away in time to notice her sister rummaging through the ruins searching in vain for her mother and father.
Anna spies a figure crumpled on the floor in the corner of her eye. The body of her father stares back at her, victim of a self-inflighted gunshot wound. A rifle rests nearby, primed and loaded for bear, but it doesn’t appear he had much of a chance. She’s heard of Dala freaks breaking and entering to get their next fix, but this... Who could’ve possessed the strength done such a horrible thing?
“It’s Dad.” She whispers. “Suicide.”
“Suicide?” Dana is incredulous. “Dad was too proud for that. Besides he had his daughters to live for.”
“Oh my Jove! Look!”
Dana whips around to notice her mother’s bra and panties leading towards the shed in the backyard. Her heart sinks.
“They got her.” Her voice grows eerie.
“They?”
“The people Mom keeps talking about. The people who took Nana.”
“Those guys? I thought the wars ended thirty years ago!”
“Apparently not.” Dana looks around carefully. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
They make a run for it, but as they race to get out of the house a mysterious force stops them in mid-stride. Anna makes an effort to move her legs, as does her sister, but they refuse to budge. She looks on in terror as not one, but two reptile-like creatures materialize in front of them, their formidable members fully erect. The emerald light gives their heads an eerie glow as they walk towards the nubile young girls. Their forked tongues flicker suggestively.
Anna struggles to tune out the voices in her head telling her to join them.
“What’s going on?”
“Don’t listen to them, Dana.” She urges her older sister. “They’re just trying to manipulate us.”
There is no denying their power. Anna’s nipples grow erect as she watches their organs sway. They must be six to eight inches long—more than any boy she’s fantasized of being with. They dangle between the creatures’ legs invitingly. Anna feels herself become flush as naughty thought after naughty thought rushes through her brain. Yet somehow she maintains her composure—if only for Dana.
She gazes at her sister her is no less stricken by the sight of the well-endowed beasts. A breastplate of armor decorates their chests. Every movement they make is considered and delicate—like graceful warriors. Yet Dana’s attention remains focused on their shafts. Her thoughts become hazy as her eyes linger on them. Her loins burn with desire.
The indistinct hum in her head grows louder. She knows what her sister said about ignoring it, but it’s just so hard, and with the feelings she’s having... Suddenly the room feels like a hothouse to her. All she becomes aware of is her own primal need. The voices speak to her softly, telling her of the many sensual delights waiting for her if only she’d cross to her side. She feels a trickle of wetness down below. There’s no doubt in her mind what she has to do anymore—she has to obey.
“I feel so...hot.” She unbuttons her blouse. “What’s the temperature in here?”
“It’s a trap.” Anna squeezes her sibling’s hand. “Try to think of Jimmy.”
“But I can’t...the voices...they’re too powerful.”
“Think harder.” Anna squeezes Dana’s hand firmly. “Be positive. We’ll get through this together.”
“I don’t know how much longer I can take it.” Dana pleads. “I’m sorry, Anna.”
Anna watches helplessly as her sister walks toward the creatures, arms extended in a gesture of embrace. Dana’s lips merge with the creatures in a lustful display before breaking away. She glances at her sister hoping that Anna would join in the celebration. But her younger sister stands aside, confused and unsure what to make of the affair. Dana returns her attention to the reptile, lavishing kisses and exploring it’s body as her crestfallen sister looks on. A flash of light abruptly fills the room. reptiles.
Then suddenly: nothing.
The loneliness sinks in moments later as Anna opens her eyes. With her sister gone and no one else to take care of her, for the first time she confronts the awful possibility that she is the only person left in the entire village. Hell, even the world. She collapses on her knees, looking forlornly into empty space...
“No!” Anna bolts up in bed, sweating profusely.
“What’s wrong?” Vanessa rubs her eyes.
“Nothing.” Anna snaps back into the present. “Go back to sleep.”