Insomnia and Seven More Short Stories Read online

  “Out of the way, asshole.” I take the dead guy by his gray flight suit and toss him to the back of the inner cabin. I hear him hit the wall with a crack. Kind of gives me the creeps, defiling the dead like that, but I’m sure he deserves it.

  My body fits in the single cockpit chair nicely. This boat was designed for a single occupant. After scanning the array of controls spread out across three separate panels, I decide I’m screwed. Everything is labeled in some language I’ve never seen before. So I decide to take a chance and start pushing buttons. The first three do nothing, but the forth opens a front panel, revealing a large windshield and a stunning view of the Earth below. Few people ever get to see the Earth like this, with all the garbage floating in orbit, real estate on the lower levels is near impossible to find. Of course, this view has a flaw. Even from this far away, the clean-cut hole in the Earth, through the heart of my city, can be seen clearly. Gonna make the bastards pay for that.

  I reach for another button. “Don’t touch that, you idiot!”

  I can’t remember ever jumping in fright, not even once in my life, but in zero grav I launch out of the seat and hit my head on the ceiling. Embarrassment keeps me from getting angry, as I float above the control panels, looking down at Gawyn. Kid takes my seat at the controls. Probably a good thing too; I might have ended up putting another hole in the Earth.

  Rehna floats in through the entrance tunnel. “Sorry, Priest. I tried to stop her.”

  Gawyn looks up at me. “Can you read Mooner?”

  “No.”

  “Really? No kidding.” Gawyn brims with sarcasm. “Cause I could’a sworn you wanted to kill us all.”

  I don’t argue.

  Gawyn starts with the magic fingers again. Screens blink to life. The power comes online in full. The air is purified, thank God. I push down from the ceiling to get a closer look at the display screens. Images flash past quickly as Gawyn tears through the complex computer system. Then she stops and looks up at me, floating above her.

  “I’m in,” she says.

  “In where?”

  “Mooner city. Their database.”

  “Kid, you want a job with The Authority, you got it.” She smiles, and for the first time I notice she’s cute. Not that I go around calling kids cute that often, most of them are about as pleasant looking as an overused snot rag. But Gawyn, she manages to serve a purpose, and she ain’t bad to look at, at the same time.

  I get lost in my thoughts and fail to notice the changes on the screen. “Priest, are you seeing this?” Rehna asks me.

  The screen displays text and images: war machines, tactical gear, a diagram of the Earth with hundreds of orbiting satellites lit up in green. “What the hell?”

  Gawyn reads my mind and digs deeper on the satellites. She brings up detailed schematics and tactical information. “Move over,” Rehna says, and I push to the side. Rehna can read faster than lightning. One of her eyes was shot out two years back, before I knew her, and she got some new-fangled eye. Lets her scan pages of information like a robot taking snapshots. Rehna scrolls through the information and even the kid can’t keep up.

  “Holy...” I’ve never seen Rehna look so stunned. She looks me in the eyes, but the connection I’ve felt between us is buried deep beneath a sense of dread. “We’ve got an hour before three hundred of these satellites open fire on the rest of Earth’s major cities. Priest, they’ve been planning this for the last twenty five hundred years.”

  I roll with the biggest mental punch I’ve ever received. “The last legacy of Albin. And then what?”

  “Invasion.”

  “So they turn the Earth to Swiss cheese and then invade,” I say. “Doesn’t sound like the Earth will be worth keeping around.”

  “It won’t be,” says Rehna as plain as day.

  My eyes widen with the realization that the Mooners don’t mean to take over Earth, they mean to destroy it...or at least everyone living on it.

  I blink and the kid’s back to work, flying her fingers across the consoles, working the keys. “What are you doing?” I ask.

  “I ain’t letting no Mooners take out my planet,” Gawyn replies. “I got friends down there you know.”

  A loud hummm emanates from the rear of the satellite and the walls begin moving around my floating body. She’s turning the satellite, aiming at a different target...aiming at the moon. I can’t help but smile. This kid’s a fighter, but I can’t let her be a killer.

  “Out of the seat, Gawyn, I’ll take it from here.”

  “But...”

  “Now.”

  Gawyn huffs and floats out of the seat. I resume my place behind the controls. “Okay, now tell me what to do.”

  Gawyn talks as fast as she types. I do my best to keep up. Within minutes we have the weapon powered up and aimed straight at Mooner central, which Rehna thinks contains the majority of their control centers, population and army, awaiting orders to begin the invasion of Earth. If we’re lucky, we can take them all out in one shot.

  “Increase the target radius,” Gawyn instructs me. “We can take them out in one shot.” There she goes, reading my mind again.

  As I increase the target radius, a blue bar races across the screen, turning green, yellow, orange and then red. Rehna looks over my shoulder. “Taking a shot that big is going to overload the system. I’d rather not die up here if it’s all the same to you.”

  “If we leave even one control system intact they could still plug the Earth full of holes. I’m not gonna let that happen, even if it kills us all.” Rehna doesn’t argue, neither does Gawyn. Figures, I’m minutes away from dying and I’ve finally found a family I could get used to. Oh well.

  A vibration tickles my ass beneath the seat as the weapon reaches full charge. I can feel the raw power being built up. Before I can finish my thoughts on how the Mooners were able to leap ahead of us technologically, I see movement in the debris field between us and the moon. Four men in space suits with rocket packs come at us like laser rounds. “We got company,” I say plainly.

  “Who are they?” Gawyn asks.

  “Doesn’t matter.” I look at their weapons. They look powerful enough to destroy the satellite before we can get a shot off. “Can we set this thing on a timer?”

  “I don’t know!” Gawyn’s starting to panic.

  I take her by the shoulders. “You stay here. Set a timer on this thing.” I look at Rehna. “Stay with her.”

  Rehna takes my shoulder as I head for the exit. “Be careful,” she says.

  What’s this mushy stuff? We’re trying to save the world from Mooner terrorists and my partner is about to cry over my freakin life, which I have yet to lose and don’t intend to lose. Ahh, screw it. I’m growing tired of being the rude, manly hero anyway. I take Rehna by the waist and pull her toward me, an easy feat in zero grav, and plant a wet one on her lips. I feel my normal stew of negative feelings cool to a light simmer before I pull away. Rehna floats away from me, looking stunned...and stunning. Now I know I love her.

  Before Rehna can say something to change my mind, I launch through the docking seal and back into the mobile unit. I fire up the engines and prep the weapons systems. No way I’m gonna let these punks kill my girls.

  The assailants pause at the sight of me bearing down on them in a fully armed mobile unit. I don’t give them time to figure out what to do. I take aim at the two closest to one another and open up with a lase-sweep. The solid beam of red hot energy slices through space, cutting the two men in half like meat on the butcher’s block. The other two rocket away, weaving in and out of the debris field.

  They think they’re getting away. They’re wrong. Obviously, these jokers have never seen what a mobile unit is capable of, or they wouldn’t be fleeing in a fairly straight line. Probably think all the junk between me and them will slow me down. Heh, this is going to be fun.

  I switch on the mobile unit’s auto-defense system and step on the gas. My cannons open up on all sides and unleash Hades. Ev
ery hunk of crap within twenty feet is turned into space dust. Anything missed by the cannons, I just plow through. Good thing there’s no sound in space or these jokers would hear me coming, like an angry avalanche...with guns. Too much fun.

  I lock on to one with an intelrocket. This is gonna scare the crap out of that last guy. The rocket flings through space, dodging debris with incredible agility. Aside from teleporting, there’s no way to escape an intelrocket once it’s locked on. Two seconds later, the third man explodes in a silent splash of guts, leaving just one more.

  He must have seen bits of his friend fly past, because his movements become erratic. Hasn’t he learned that shaking me is impossible? The man takes a ninety degree turn and I follow with ease, clearing a wide path for myself the whole way. I lose sight of the man and suddenly burst free of the debris and into a clearing.

  Shit! Shit, shit, shit. I should have seen this coming. At the center of the clearing, are what appear to be three Mooner-versions of my mobile unit. They open fire with everything they’ve got.

  I turn hard right and take two hits to my left side. Shakes me up, but I’m otherwise unscathed. After turning off the defense systems, I launch into the debris field, weaving in and out of old satellites and garbage cans. I know I can lose them and it might buy me some time...but for what?

  I turn on the com system and try Rehna. “Rehna, this is Priest. You copy?”

  “Roger, Priest. We copy. Where the hell are you?”

  “Got some unwelcome guests on my tail. How close are you to pulling the trigger?”

  “Ready when you are.”

  Fwash! A laser skims off the hull. Getting closer.

  “I want you to wait until I’m in your sights. Then fire that thing, full power.”

  I hear the kid grab the line. “You can’t! That’s crazy!”

  “Shut-up, kid.” No time to play wet-nurse. “Pull the trigger or I’m gonna die anyway.” I hang up, not in the mood for goodbyes.

  After entering the path I carved earlier, I floor it, pouring on the speed like a cybernetic cheetah. They’re right on my ass. Fast little bastards. I make a beeline for the Mooner-weapon’s attack zone and set the controls: straight ahead, full speed. I take my biohazard mask from its compartment and strap it to my head. Might help me survive.

  I pick up the com. “Rehna?”

  “We’re ready, Priest,” she replies, voice wavery.

  “I need you to go ahead and open the outer airlock doors.”

  She responds just the way I like it. “Done.”

  “Be ready to seal the airlock on my signal.”

  “What signal?”

  “You’ll know.”

  Bachoom! A shot hits me directly in the rear. Then another and another. Better make this quick.

  “Priest, you got five seconds before we fire.”

  I pop the hatch and it floats away at five hundred miles per hour. I push off the floor and float out of the cab at the same speed, as I enter the target area. The three Mooner ships continue after the mobile unit, guns blazing. Probably thought I was a piece of shrapnel they blew off. Their mistake, my salvation.

  Reaching out with my synth-arm, I wield a grappling hook, which I launch toward the Mooner satellite. It finds its home, embedded in the metal hull and catches tight. At five hundred miles per hour, even in space the pull is incredible. It takes all of my cybernetic strength to hold on, as I swing wide, out of range. A second later, my vision blurs as the weapon fires and the three Mooner ships cease to exist, along with my mobile unit.

  My chest begins to burn. I’m longing to take a breath, but I know if I do, I’ll just suck in the cold of space. The face mask over my eyes holds nicely and gives me the ability to aim where I’m going, spinning around the satellite, over and over again like a wild tetherball getting closer and closer to the pole. My speed slowed at first, but has picked back up with every revolution. This is gonna hurt.

  On my last revolution, I can tell that my aim was true. Instead of slamming into the outer hull, I’m about to be flung inside the open airlock. I lead with my synth-arm, letting it take the majority of the impact and using it to slow the rest of my body before I slam into the airlock doors.

  The impact knocks the wind out of me and I feel desperate to suck in air. But I know if I do, I’m dead. My vision starts going black, and I concentrate on keeping my mouth shut, clenching my jaw. I feel hands grab my shoulders and pull, but it’s the last thing I sense.

  I wake up ten minutes later to the sound of Gawyn yelling up a blue streak. “What are we gonna do! We’re gonna be splattered!”

  After opening my eyes, I quickly survey the situation. Through the windshield I see the Earth spinning below and coming up quick. I must have knocked the satellite out of orbit when I hit. Better lay off the cheeseburgers.

  My stomach turns as I feel gravity begin to take control. A sudden jerk pulls me off the floor, and I fall down the now vertical satellite. I fall past Gawyn and Rehna, and slam onto the windshield, face down. I open my eyes to a close-up view of the Earth’s surface. But now it’s approaching more slowly.

  I roll over onto my back and face Gawyn and Rehna, their eyes wide. “I think it’s safe to say this thing has a parachute.”

  “And hard freakin glass,” Gawyn says with a smile.

  I smile back. Kid’s making me all warm and freakin fuzzy. Maybe I’ll retire.

  After twenty minutes of floating through the sky, we land back in the city, on the top of one of the few remaining ten thousand foot buildings. Popping the hatch proves a challenge for my weary and burning muscles, but my synth-arm is still up to the task. We’re greeted by the cool night air, kept clean and breathable by air scrubbers running up the sides of every building in town. I suck the air in like a siphon.

  The girls climb down the side of the satellite one at a time, both refusing my help. I’m just shocked that I offered to begin with. As I roll my neck back, letting the bones crack back into place, I notice how bright the stars are. Stars... I laugh as I realize that when the weapon was fired it cleared a clean hole over the city. Probably killed a bunch of civies in the process, but you know what they say about breaking a few eggs.

  My vision follows the stars to a bright object floating in space that I’ve only seen in books. The moon. With all the crap orbiting the planet, no one on the surface has seen the moon for a thousand years. Probably just the way they liked it, being able to move in concealment, like sneaking up on a scared kid hiding under the blankets. Too bad for them, this scared kid got hold of a big gun.

  A perfectly round hole, the size of Maine, stares back from the Moon’s surface—evidence that any threat from the moon has been wiped out. Any Mooner forces remaining are probably scattering in a confused daze, unsure where to run. Rehna and Gawyn stand next to me, staring up in silence.

  “Hard to believe we did that.” Rehna says.

  I look her in the eyes. “Think they’ll let me go back up there and turn it into a smiley face?”

  She just smiles back and takes my hand. Feels funny, but I let it linger. A pressure on my finger brings my eyes back down, and I see Gawyn holding onto my index finger. My muscles tense and I fight the urge to shrug them both off, but after wiping out an entire civilization, I’ve destroyed enough lives for one day. I pick the kid up and throw her over my shoulders. With my arm around Rehna, I head for the roof stairwell, thinking about starting a new life. Maybe I’ll get a dog too.

  Heh, I’m all freakin heart.

  AFTERWORD

  My editor recently described this story as noir. My immediate internal reaction was, “What?! No! I hate noir!” Having reread the story, I see that he’s right. While sci-fi noir is not something I would consciously write, it seems a part of me appreciates the genre. My only memory of actually writing this story is being in between novels, having a few hours to spare and sitting down in front of my laptop.

  As an artist, I often sit down with a blank piece of paper and just start drawin
g. I don’t know what I’m going to draw. I just start putting lines on the page and something emerges. It’s not some kind of metaphysical experience, I just see something in the shape and expand upon it. I play the same game with my family while waiting for food in the restaurant. Someone scribbles some quick lines, and I turn it into a drawing. The creation of FROM ABOVE was similar. I sat down and started dreaming up good first lines. After a few minutes I typed, “When my arm came off, I knew something wasn’t right.”

  I built the rest of the story around that line, first explaining how it had happened and then asking and answering the follow-up questions that explanation created. The story emerged on its own, and I suspect the noir feeling of it comes from it being written that way. I was asking and answering questions like a detective and that voice crept into my writing.

  The end result is an experimental story that turned into my first magazine-published piece and made me a whopping fifty bucks.

  Bought and Paid For

  One hundred feet below ground, knee deep in unrefined, pure shit, Jonas Flynn laughed. The key in his hand, ancient and rusted, had worked.

  He had entered the sewer line two miles down and slogged his way through what looked like a fecal parade, on a river of piss, bile and rancid water. The mask he wore enabled him to breath, but its ill fit allowed the occasional waft of sewer air in. It wasn’t the smell that got him. It was the taste.

  But it’d all been worth it. He was in. Every security system had a weakness, back door or secret entry. The Navy mainframe’s Achilles heel happened to be buried fifty feet underground, in a sewer line that ran beneath Navy Intelligence’s fallout shelter. A long forgotten fallout shelter. If you went back in time far enough, even the best-kept secrets could be retraced forward and discovered in the present. It was the basic principle of private investigations, at which he excelled. Though what was now considered private investigation had once been known as hacking and typically involved computers, not sewers. But he’d get to that.