Chapter 7

Written by: Ray Stone

I didn’t get a chance to explore. I mean, I was in a real spaceship and being sent back before meeting the Captain. It was annoying and confusing. These guys from the future were trying to stop the bad guys in the past from taking over the Earth and causing trouble. Damn, it was a lot to try and get my head around and really, I was a bit worried. If the bad guys, these Drunagors, could be wasted, then I guess those of us left would be starting over again. That’d be a real big job but at least for now I had a few friends.

Krall, I found out, was from another planet, Onger, and a Confederation member, working with Astro Command as a medic alongside Jed and Zaren, one of the search crews who saved me. 

All this was racing around in my head as we whizzed along a long curved wide passage. We were in the hover vehicle used when I got picked up. We stopped in front of a large door, and the hood of our transport slid forward, closing us in. The door opened, and we floated into a chamber marked ‘AIRLOCK.’ As soon as the door closed behind, another in front of us opened, and all I remember was a ring of blue light surrounding us again.

***

 

It was daylight as we lowered slowly to the road where I lost Ben. The truck was still there, but the rest of the road was deserted. Jed, the pilot, turned to Zaren. “Run through the instructions on the Decib Meter again.”

The meter, a tablet with a push button control set and speaker detected voices up to two krints away, about a mile in old measurement according to Zaren. 

“Remember,” said Zaren, “if all you hear is grunting or a kind of loud clucking, that’ll be a Drunagor. Have the gun ready in case you come across a Drunagor or are attacked. They have to touch and hold you for several seconds before you vaporise so don’t hesitate. Just shoot them with your Disintegrator first.”

He sounded like Pop. I remember Pop tellin’ me on my first deer hunt: “Don’t hesitate, son. As soon as you have him fair in them thar sights you pull the darn trigger while holdin’ yer breath”.

We spread out, and I moved into the woods with the meter switched on. My Disintegrator was gripped firmly in my other hand. I was freakin' scared and shakin’, but I wasn’t going to let Ben down. I knew he was out there.

I hadn’t walked far when I heard a loud clucking and twigs snapping nearby. I stopped, my hands shaking. It was a Druganor – it had to be. My tablet dropped to the floor, and I swung around to where the noise came from.

As I did, I saw a large claw-like grey hand grip my shoulder. Something wet dribbled on my ear as hot breath blew down my neck.

Comments

I like the comparison with his first deer hunt. So many strange things are happening. Using something familiar like this really helps to ground the reader and makes the unbelievable seem more believable (if that makes sense!)