This is a Chain story passed between @zakludick and @therneau. Each writer authors a post based on the events of previous episodes and carries on the story.
There is very little collusion between the writers as it is challenging to discover and develop a story by attuning the writing to the partner's plot, style, and presentation.
For now @therneau is sitting out of the chain for the time being and @zakludick is progressing the story on his own.
Space Lore Log SLZT.Q4
The artificial light glared down on him and he tried his best to hunch over and block it out with his unkempt hair. They had not restrained him, but they would not let him leave.
He had pleaded. Begged. All he wanted was to go home and forget everything. He just wanted to spend some time with his family before it all ended.
"Mr. Reeves?" The woman said on the other side of the table. He was dimly aware that she meant him. "Can you tell us what happened to the other scientists?"
She was trying to be soothing. There had been a military man asking the questions earlier, the one that had gotten increasingly hostile as he ignored his pleas to be released and let go back to his family. He needed to get to a plane, to get far away from... from...
He shivered. He could not even process it.
A flash of blackness entered his mind for the briefest second.
"No." He croaked. His throat was dry.
"Mr. Reeves." The woman prompted again. "We are only trying to help. We need to understand what happened. What did you see? Would you like some water?"
He nodded his head.
The woman must have gestured at someone outside of the window to the room. He heard the door open slightly. "Can we get a glass of water here please?" He had thought of escaping as the door opened, but it was no use, there were at least two armed soldiers in the hallway, right outside this door. The person who came inside to listen to the woman would not be one of them.
"You are safe here now." The woman said soothingly. "I am not sure that you know exactly where you are Mr. Reeves, but it is far away from the things that you saw that has scared you like this."
He shook his head. "Are we still on planet Earth?" He managed to ask.
"Yes."
"Then we are not far enough."
The door opened and a plastic cup of water was placed on the table in front of him. They probably thought that had they given him a glass, that he might end up using it as a weapon. But he was no fighter, nor some psycho.
"Why would you say that?"
He shook his head. He did not want to think about it. He couldn't. This woman was trying to make him remember and recall the details. The horror.
An image flashed into his mind and for just a second he saw his mentor being dragged away, his arms locked and holding on while his body was torn to pieces. Blood and broken flesh had sprayed out against his face and he had falled backwards and down. He had slid down the hill.
Somehow, he had not broken any bones or sustained majoir injuries. He had started to run.
He had kept running.
"Mr. Reeves?" The woman prompted again. "My I call you Peter?"
There was a long pause. His own name echoed in his mind. He had remembered the others shouting his name, right before they had been overtaken.
"Peter. We are just trying to find out what happened in that time." The woman continued. "What happened to Dr. Gray?"
"He's dead."
"How do you know that he is dead?"
"There was a lot of blood everywhere."
"Yes. The forensics team had determined that a lot of the blood that covered your body at the time had not been your own and belonged to Dr. Gray. How did he die?"
Peter shook his head. He could not give it voice.
"Did you kill the Doctor?"
The question shot into Peter like an icy shard. Are they serious? He looked up for the first time to look right at the woman. He was around about the same age as Peter, she was not wearing a military uniform like the other soldiers had and instead wore a two-piece suit like some sort of corporate professional.
She was African, and she wore a sort of scarf headdress over her hair that matched the lilac jacket. West Africa
Peter sat there looking at her in a dumbfounded sort of way.
He considered the possibility that this woman was merely someone who had travelled to the DRC area, but it was unlikely that she would then wear the customary headdress.
"Are.... are we in Congo? Luanda?" He asked.
"Mr. Reeves." She said sternly, the slight smile on her face fading. Instead of concern, she seemed worried for herself in close proximity to Peter. "Answer the question. There are some that have cause to believe that you had a psychotic break and that you killed the people you worked with and then fled the country. Which is why you were captured and taken here."
"Of course not!" He exclaimed. "What a crazy idea! I cannot believe that is even possibility..."
So I am definitely not in the Congo. Perhaps I am in West Africa after all.
"And why would you say that?" She asked.
"Well... I... it was horrible! Too terrible!" He started shaking. Talking about it brought back memories and images and feelings that he did not want to feel or remember. He looked down at his lap.
"What was? What you did to them or what they did to you?" She asked him.
He looked up. "Dr. Gray was my mentor! My best friend! He and I and Elizabeth were close. I would give my life for theirs... but... I couldn't... they're gone..."
"Mr. Reeves. I hate to badger you about this. You are showing severe signs of mental stress. But HQ wants to know all the can." She squirmed nervously in her chair. "I have to ask you again: What happened?"
"Is the Congo rainforest still there?"
"What?"
"The rainforest. Where we did the research. What happened to it?"
"I have not been informed of any problems regarding the forest." She replied. "Any queries that I have myself on your work area is deemed classified."
Peter finally pushed aside his psychological revulsion and one memory stuck in his head. One that showed him one of those moments, where he was face to face with one of the menacing, ugly, metallic bugs.
"Tell your HQ that Dr. Gray and Elizabeth were killed and that the thing that killed them is the same thing that destroyed the forest!"
"What do you mean the forest is destroyed?" The woman's face was aghast.
The door slammed open and two men stepped into the room wearing suits and sunglasses. "That information is classified! You both will come with us right now."
"You are you?" The woman said standing as the men walked into the room followed by the two armed soldiers.
"Ma'am, I am going to need to you to keep quiet about this and come with us."
"And why should I do that?" She demanded.
"Firstly, because we do not need an international panic." The one man said.
The other man completed the list. "And secondly, because what Mr. Reeves has said is true."
Log SLZT.Q4 completed!
See you next time!
Other Space Lore stories:
| by @zakludick | by @therneau |
|---|---|
| Branch Log | Queen |
| SLZT #26/Q1 | |
| SLZT.Q2 | *** |
| SLZT.Q3 | *** |
| by @zakludick | by @therneau |
|---|---|
| New Earth | SLKT |
| SLKT #1 | |
| SLKT #2 | *** |
| SLKT #3 | *** |
| You are Here! | *** |
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