by L.L. Soares
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Velvet woke in darkness. She scurried to her feet and pressed her hands against cold steel walls, trying to determine the dimensions of her enclosure.
The lights came on.
She was in the space the size of a closet, surrounded by metal plating on four sides. A light bulb high above her head.
One of the metal plates slid up,
Hesitantly, she left her small cell, stepping out into a larger one.
She was not alone.
In the larger space, there was something breathing. Something large and gelatinous, throbbing softly in the corner. She did not approach it. It was clear that whatever it was, it was not of this earth. It’s very presence filled her with waves of nausea.
Someone cleared his throat above her. There were speakers in the walls.
“Don’t be afraid,” a man’s voice said. “This is a momentous occasion. You are the first human being to have direct contact with an alien species.”
“What?” Velvet said, trying to understand what had happened to her.
She remembered the parking garage. Some of the lights had burned out. She ran to her car, her heels clicking on the asphalt. Trying to get inside as quickly as possible and turn on the interior light. But she didn’t make it. There was a sudden hand, grabbing her shoulder, as a cloth was pressed to her face.
“Where am I?” she asked. “Who are you?”
“Do not be alarmed,” the voice said. “My name is Willard Raymond. I’m a doctor.”
A glob of ooze turned into a tentacle that probed the air in her direction.
“You are about to make history,” the man’s voice said above her. “First contact.”
“Shouldn’t I have some say in whether I want to make history?” Velvet asked.
“If we asked permission every time a milestone was met,” the voice said. “We’d never move forward.”
A lumpy, misshapen head bounced forward from the body. Eyes formed and opened.
It made a noise that made her want to wretch.
“Move closer,” the man’s voice said. “I want to see how it will react to you.”
“What if it kills me?” she asked.
The voice had no response to that.
There was length of discarded pipe on the floor, among other debris. Velvet squatted down and grabbed it firmly. Then she rose to her feet again.
“What are you doing there?”
“Arming myself,” she said.
The tentacle moved a bit closer. The bobbing head stretched on a stalk-like neck. The eyes bigger and wider, examining her curiously.
“Where did you find this thing?” she asked.
“Remarkable, isn’t it?”
The head reached her first, a mouth suddenly opening in the face. Showing teeth.
Velvet struck then, swinging the pipe like a baseball bat, knocking the head back to its body.
The sound of the impact was obscured by a scream.
“No!” the man’s voice said. “You’re hurting it!”
“Isn’t that the idea?” Velvet said. “I’m protecting myself.”
“It came a million miles to get here,” Dr. Raymond said. “You can’t just beat it to death.”
“You put me here, mister.”
She moved closer and struck the creature again. It’s screams got louder. And with them came waves of fear. Emotional toxins.
She dropped the pipe to the floor, where it rattled. Metal against metal. She held her stomach, trying not to empty its contents.
“Poor thing,” she said, when she was able to talk again. “It probably didn’t mean to hurt me at all. You put us in this situation.”
She looked up at the speakers. “You caused this.”
There was a groan from above. It almost sounded like sobbing.
And then the lights went out again.
~end
CONTACT ROOM - I.VELVET - features Dr. Willard Raymond from the story, "Mating Room" in the collection - In Sickness
Alien post created for October Trix-n-Treatz by by L.L. Soares
© 2010. All rights reserved.
by L.L. Soares
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she wonders...
was she just abducted???
by L.L. Soares and Laura Cooney
AND
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