Flash Fiction Friday! With a Ghostly SFF

Image by MATJAZ SLANIC via canva.com

The Promise 

The ship’s captain was gone. It was Captain Marrow now. Macy was no longer head of the kitchen staff. With her hand on the zoom finder, she watched her creation, Matadon, scrape along the edge of the rock. Its hydrogen center could ignite in an instant. The infrared screen showed the five-kilometer valley filling with layers of methane; the ship docked too close. Planet Xo53’s spectral rings of turquoise and cobalt wrapped an impenetrable field that had barricaded the ship. But she’d been promised a passage through. She’d seen Earth. It was the dream’s message. 

Matadon had to survive long enough to retrieve the quartz inside the cave and return to the ship before the first star set. The quartz guaranteed a lift out of here. It was a race against the methane seeping across the surface, a race they might not win.

A luminescent orb passed Matadon and returned to the ship. Her ship. Queen of the castle. The luciferin orbs were a precaution, proving there was still oxygen inside the cave. She caught her reflection, the slip of a human, breathing recycled air since her team’s journey began a decade ago. Unable to sleep, the hours and days had blurred. Eleven crew members were gone.

 The dreams had started before that, and ever since traveling through this system, she’d been able to dream awake. It wasn’t only dreams that came to her and kept her company. Ideas materialized: maps, blueprints for creating the reconnaissance orbs, and Matadon, what she named the fuel wrapped in silica. Just like cooking, the silica fibers she’d ripped from the barren galley, implicitly following the instructions, soldered with cobalt and nickel, an amorphous shape took form. Standing over twelve feet tall, once animated, Matadon could take commands. Hydrogen shifted through its sinuous reeds, erecting the branch of a neck she’d circled in lenses so that nothing snuck up on her. Having Matadon around kept her from giving up.

Her curiosity and the awake dreams held her hypnotized, punching code, traveling the direction presented, which was here. The promise. Having run out of supplies days ago, an echo drifting by had boarded and tried to kill her. She and Matadon captured the distortion into a magnetic cylinder before it settled into the carbon walls. Without a protective seal to cover the ship, the unseen world often passed through and tried to stick around. Or take crew members one by one.

Matadon stopped. Captain Marrow pushed up to the screen. “What’s happening down there?” All she could see were crystallized rocks. She dialed closer. Matadon lifted an appendage, a positive sign confirming quartz inside the fissure. Another dream that had proven accurate. Enough to jump-start the ship and return home, she hoped.

Light streaked across the screen. Matadon smashed against the rock and disappeared into the fissure. She slammed her hand on the console, eyes tracking back and forth. Now, she had to go down there. Storming out of the control room, she marched down the narrow passage and into the antechamber, a dozen bio-orbs circling, and stepped into the circle. The suit rose and sealed around her body. She picked up the Torc, a spike with a two-meter hook at one end, and strode to the platform, an orb at each shoulder, descended to the first level, and passed through the light frequency that would camouflage her from the spooks, a frequency that should last as long as it took to bring Matadon back.

The elevator grated to a stop, and Captain Marrow departed. She crossed the metal platform, scattering the phantasms proliferating weightlessness, capped the headgear, and extended the bridge. Ninety meters below, cobalt waves circled. She crossed the bridge, legs apart, distancing the rivets careful not to create friction, and met the rock’s edge. Crouching over, she peered inside. No sign of Matadon. Not even a blip on her palm tracker. She turned to the orbs. “You’re with me.” She still had to gather enough quartz to take her home.

 As she entered the cave, a magnetic field tugged at her suit, dragging her inside. Her eyes, obscured by the gray shield, traced the walls glistening with quartz. “Matadon!” she called before turning to a ripple of her reflection. Hand out, she moved forward, the ripples enveloping her fingers and arm, and she stepped through, orbs at her side. She called out again for Matadon. An image of reedy grass flickered ahead. Then she heard water and turned to a rushing creek, budding cherry trees, magnolias, and oaks in the distance. There was a familiar school. She’d seen this all before, in a dream. It was her life on Earth. So far removed from her memories, it had become a dream.

 Her crew members had said they knew the way home, but she knew another way. She saw the promise. Stuck in the galley without a voice, her future and future’s future stripped away, the ship drifted. 

 Captain Marrow staggered forward. “Matadon!” She stopped. Matadon’s sheath was at her boots. She lifted the cobalt-infused silica and gazed at the cave opening. Was this the promise? Only the mirage of Earth? She wasn’t a specter in a make-believe world. She was human, flesh and blood. Dreams weren’t real.

 But she needed the quartz. Wrenching around toward the cave's wall, she recalled the ghost ship, the spirits, the thoughts seeping into hers and Matadon’s. She dropped the sheath and raced for the opening, carelessly rubbing the rivets together, and the valley ignited beneath her feet, below the ship, and everywhere all at once. She entered the ship. Untethered the spacesuit and returned to her position behind the controls.

 She’d forgotten the quartz! Before there was time to settle over her advancing loneliness, a familiar revenant sat beside her, then another in the seat to the rear. Each seat filled with all eleven crew members circling the cockpit, including Captain Warton.

 “Marrow,” he said, slipping over her transparent body. “Get to your position. We’re going home.”

Kindle Unlimited ~ Speculative Short Fiction!

Originally published in 2018 in the Anthology Alien Dimensions, THE RETURN, a 45-minute read is now available on Kindle Unlimited.  

Earth: 22X. The last of the dreamers have been brought back from death, but only those who can hold onto memories will create a new future for a dying species.

Short Fiction: Time Travel

My 101 Word Flash Fiction, Compression, is one of the stories featured in the December Time Travel Issue of 101 Fiction 

Visit the website for more. 

Enjoy the escape! 

Creating Another Future .... in my Fantasies.

Do you like science-fiction 🚀 and/or fantasy? How do you feel about anthologies? You can order any of these in print or ebook on my website KL Hallam 

                         Duotrope informed me that I had a good acceptance rate.  wink. wink.

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If you love Science Fiction and stretching the possibilities of reality, perhaps Issue #13 of Alien Dimensions paying tribute to Dr. Who and strong female characters will interest you!  Read my 5k short story “Charger Nine”.

Or my homage to Mary Shelly's Frankenstein in Alien Dimensions # 16

G.L.O.R.I.A.

I created G.L.O.R.I.A., to be more than a fire weapon.

GLORIA was my monster. 

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Gold-Lithium-Osmium-Ruthenium-Iridium-Aluminum.

My Science Fantasy "Over and Over"  was featured in the debut issue of Fantasy Short Stories Anthology. 

Future Earth: 22X. The last of the dreamers are brought back from death, but only those who hold memories and can recreate a new future for the dying human species. 


The links on my website will also take you to either B&N or Amazon Whichever you prefer. 
  

"The path of the imagination lead to perfect knowledge"  ~ Not sure who said this, maybe something I imagined because I've had it in my mind for years. 

Today I found Einstein's quote:

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution."


 I'm here for the evolution!   
 Happy Reading!     

Free Fiction Fridays!

I have a few short stories on Wattpad lingering and since I seem to have more traffic on my blog, I'm going to try something new called #FFF or #FreeFictionFridays. I'll leave a short story or a chapter every Friday, and if you blog and would like to join me, please do! And leave a link in the comments, I'll happily visit your blog to read. 

This story is from a vision I kept having from about the age of five, the light through the trees, the helicopters, with no idea why this visual returned over and over, I used the image like paint and clay and sculpted a scene.  #SFF

What They Leave Behind  
Kylie is being blamed for Sadie's disappearance, and no one is buying his alien story. How will he prove his innocence? 

I remember hearing a helicopter. The leaves soaked in sunshine made them translucent, but I couldn't see anything. A clear summer day, and I was playing with friends near the Airforce base. Helicopters certainly weren't unusual.

The only time I left their sight was when I went under that tree for a little privacy. Helicopters, and sunlight, that was my only recollection. When I came out, one of my friends shouted, "What happened to your head?"

Sure enough, I reached until I found the wet, warm spot, and had a look. Blood! My head didn't hurt. And I had no idea what happened. I didn't remember being scared. I know now, the head bleeds profusely, but this happened when I was seven years old.

I walked with my friends to the base; my mom approached me, fast and frightened, asking what had happened.

"That's probably when it started, Doctor Murphy, the missing time. Isn't that what they say?"

"Who?"

"The Abducted. They always mention missing time, and."

I stopped. I wasn't sure what they said. I might have heard Dillon say something, once. Dillon's been trying to keep me sane through this.

"What about the other time, with Sadie?" he asked.

"That's what we're here for ... " I settled back into the chair. I knew he'd make me go through it again. I much preferred the times when I couldn't remember anything. This wasn't going to be fun.

"Sadie and I were walking, out on 9D. Pretty dark, you know. It was last Monday, just after the sunset. There are always lights, by the way, floating around, especially right before they come."

I had to take a breath. I couldn't control this wavering pain in my stomach, the wave machine, and my hands were shaking. I rubbed the sweat on my pants and re-crossed my legs, stiff from sitting here too long. I'd hate to lie down, never know if he wiped the couch.

"Just go slow," he said.

Yes slow, the images always run in slow motion.

"The darkness was unreal. With the new moon, you could see the stars to infinity. We started walking toward the river, and first, our legs slowed, then our arms. I looked at her and everything on Sadie's face vibrated, every line and wrinkle. And then the lines on the trees vibrated like maybe they were slowing down, too. Or their matter was breaking up? It's hard to put into words. Dillon said that's what happens."

"And you and Sadie hadn't been drinking? Or anything?"

He did that fatherly thing again, where his glasses dropped down his nose.

What if we did use drugs? We didn't, but come on. It's a judgment call. He's calling it.

I watched out his office window. His daughter was playing with dolls near the woods.

"That's when we saw it," I said.

"And when they took her?" He flexed his jowls as he took notes.

He loved this part and wanted me to say it again. I nodded. "They said they were watching, and that Sadie had a contract with them."

"That's what they told you?"

"Yes, not like we talked, but they did. They said her family had a contract from years ago. Why don't you ask them a few questions? Honestly, I think you really should."

I couldn't breathe again. I watched the little girl through the window. Dust particles floated through the beam of sunlight. I wanted to float away with the dust.

"Why do you suppose they didn't take you?" he asks.

"Said they did, many times. Guess my number wasn't up for this trip?" I laughed, sort of. But it wasn't funny. My nerves were impossible to settle. They're always watching. I screamed for them to release her.

"That was only a week ago ... "

"Yes. Well, Kylie, you're still under investigation for Sadie's disappearance. I believe you, somehow, I do. I've heard a case or two, similar to yours, and yes, there was missing time with those cases, but how to get the police to believe it, and a lawyer, not so easy."

"Unless she comes back," I said.

He looked at me; man, he can drop eyeglasses on a dime, and said, "Yes, if she comes back."

"They hang around military bases, you know, like the one in Maine, where I lived as a kid."

Doctor Murphy stood up. "The officers are here." He put his clipboard down, and briefly checked on his daughter from the window. Then he went to greet the officers, waiting in the next room.

"Time's up," said officer Frank.

I was already standing, and he took my arms by force. I didn't resist. Doctor Murphy winced.

They could hang me for this.

I told them everything I saw. How she split in two: one bubble and one transparent body. Her "earthly" body or whatever you call it, disappeared - poof, without a trace. I'm the only trace. Everything leads to me.

Doctor Murphy said he believed me, but I don't buy it. I'm escorted, or more accurately, towed, to the police car. Head shoved under and in, like a deranged killer. Or someone they think is trying to get by on an insanity charge.

Where's the body? Just tell us where the body is? That's what they'd asked. I stopped telling them what happened to her body.

Once, years ago, listening to the radio the music changed to a song that answered a question on my mind. It got my attention. The lights flickered and I knew they were there. "How long have you been doing this?" I whispered.

The Cindy Lauper song, Time After Time played. The station was set to a rock-n-roll only broadcast.

"For years?" I asked in response to the song's title. "What did you do to me when I was seven-years-old?"

You are here to help, this earthy role is not your own. You wanted it this way. It's not good to know too much, or you won't want to stay.

I felt lighter after that and it lasted a couple years. But when my dog was killed, I knew it could only be them. All the blood drained from his terrier body. Why my dog? Never an explanation just cruelty.

And they were sloppy, leaving a sticky residue. The bioluminescent fluid they leave behind like slugs. Even left traces of it on the radio dial after our "conversation".

What if the police found bioluminescent residue near the river? Would that create enough doubt? They'd investigated during the day. Maybe they never saw it glow at night?

"I need to call my lawyer," I said through the wire mesh.

"Yes, at the station."

When we arrived they shut me into a holding tank. I waited for my parents to come with the lawyer. I was innocent. No one believed what really happened.

Why make me suffer you bully-aliens? You couldn't stick around to take the heat? Gonna let the human go down for it?

The bunk was cold and without a blanket to keep warm I crossed my arms and started to cry. I was lost. Even Dillon couldn't help.

A ball of light floated into the room. It bounced about and settled at the foot of the bunk.

"You're crying," it was Sadie's voice.

"Sadie, is that you?"

"Yes, Kylie, I can see you."

"Are you all right?"

"I'm perfect. But you ... I had no idea."

"What? That you could disappear without a trace and I wouldn't look suspicious?"

"You're going to be fine," she said.

"What are they doing to you?"

"I'm fulfilling my agreement. My parents will come. And you, Kyle, have a family here. They're waiting for your "timing". The time must be right or the cross-pattern will hiccup, and mess-up all the timelines," she said, her voice growing distant.

"I have a family?"

"Yes, two boys and a daughter. Your daughter plays with mine."

I sat up on the hard cot and looked around. Was I hallucinating? The light orb grew larger and I saw Sadie through the sheen. Glowing, like an otherworldly God. She smiled.

"I have a family?"

"Yes, Kylie and your dog is here with them."

I rubbed my eyes. Rubbed them until eyelashes fell off.

"When do I get to see them?" I asked, despite the impossibility.

"Are you ready to leave your parents in this world? They won't remember until they die what happened to you."

I nodded.

"Come, Kylie, fall into the orb. I will bring you to them. It's a little soon, but we decided we could not let you continue to suffer, for what you didn't do."

The light orb danced up and down and grew larger. Sadie stood there, bright as day, looking much the same only more beautiful and filled with a brighter light.

Footsteps came down the hall. I think I heard my mother's voice. I would miss my family."

"Come, Kylie. The conduit is closing."

I stood up and leaped into the orb. The cell door opened. My father and the guard came in first and then my mother. They must have seen something because Mom put her hands over her mouth and the guard reached into the air and came away empty-handed. Their heads were now fixed on the ceiling.

I floated with Sadie in the orb. Dad yelled that the light was too bright and Momma began to cry. She screamed my name while clutching at the air.

I wanted to tell her I'd see her again.

The End