Alienation: A Serial Story Still In Trouble

Part Three

Standing in the doorway with his arms across his chest, Kade studied the girl he’d found while out on scouting duty.

She was slender, with a faintly Asian look. Her long straight hair was jet black, and she was slightly tanned. He had found her unconscious, lying in the craterous mouth of one of the massive polyp-like creatures that live on this planet. Nasty things, they ate their prey live, and the girl had been covered in a saliva-like goo. Kade wrinkled his nose. He’d showered several times and hadn’t managed to completely rid himself of the smell. He glanced over at the doctor, a pretty, middle-aged woman.

“How is she?” he asked.

“Pretty good, all things considered,” the doctor said. “Her vital signs are good. You got her early. She doesn’t have any burns from the digestive fluid.”

“But what was she doing in there?” Kade said. “There are warnings everywhere to stay away from those things. When we do find someone, it’s usually a kid. She’s old enough to know better. She’s at least as old as me.”

Kade flicked his blond hair out of his face. The doctor shrugged.

“I don’t know, Kade. But the officials at the TeleCommunications In Space board want to talk to her.”

His green eyes widened.

“They think she jumped here, like through a worm hole?” he asked The doctor shrugged again.

“That’s a highly speculative theory, and it could get you in a lot of trouble. I wouldn’t think about it if I were you. Just be glad you saved her, take your heroic efforts badge and go back to scouting,” she said. “Now be quiet. Her heart rate and her breathing pattern are going up.”

Gael awakened with a killer headache. “That was the strangest dream I have ever had, hands down,” she thought.

She sat up stiffly and rubbed her eyes. Her skin burned mildly. She wondered if she had fallen asleep sunbathing again. She opened her bright blue eyes and looked around. Then she gasped.

The room she was in looked like something out of “Star Trek.” A woman in a white lab coat and a young man with thick, unruly blond hair dressed in some kind of dark pilot’s uniform were looking at her expectantly.

“Where am I?” she asked. She glanced down fearfully. No, she was still wearing her favorite pair of ragged jeans and her “GRRL” T-shirt. She gave a small sigh of relief.

“Where am I?” she asked again, calmer this time.

“Do you know what planet you’re on?” the doctor asked gently.

Gael stared at the woman for a moment, letting the sentence sink in.

“Earth?” she asked weakly, suddenly sure the answer was wrong.

The woman smiled good-naturedly at her. “No, I’m afraid you’re not on Earth. You’re on a planet called Nephra, located in Orion’s belt. And you’re in sick bay. Do you remember how you got here?”

Gael put her hand to her forehead. Her headache was getting worse. “This can’t be real,” she thought.

“N-no. I don’t remember anything. I was in my room, then suddenly I was in this th-thing. It was squishy, and I was covered in this green slime. What year is this?” she asked.

The young man answered.

“It’s A.C. 195.” She blinked. “A.C.? What does that mean?” she asked.

He scowled, as if she had asked him something everyone should know. “After Colony, or After Colonization. What were you do…?”

Kade stopped midword as two formidable looking men in business suits entered the room, each carrying a manila file folder.

“Doctor, this girl is now in the custody of the TCIS branch of the Intergalactic Patrol,” said one of the men. “Thank you for her care.”

“Miss,” he said, turning to Gael. “Come with us, please.”

Gael looked around fearfully.

“But I haven’t finished her check up!” the doctor yelled in protest.

“She looks fine. That will be all, Doctor,” said the second man, grabbing Gael’s arm.

“But …” the doctor began.

“That will be all,” the first man said with a note of finality as he grabbed Gael’s other arm. They lifted her to her feet and began to drag her out of the room.

“Hey, let go of me! Ouch, that hurts! Let go!” Gael yelled, trying to twist from their grasp.

“Hey, you can’t just take her like that!” Kade said angrily.

One of the men glared at him.

“Go back to scouting, boy,” he snapped, and the two men disappeared down the hall, Gael in tow.

To be continued …