Chapter 8

Zeke woke up to the feeling of fingers running through his hair. Something wasn’t quite right. His mind was even fuzzier than usual. He opened bleary eyes to see two creatures fawning over him. One was an orange, faintly humanoid creature. Tentacles writhed in its hair and two pairs of large multifaceted eyes gleamed in the light.

The other could only be described as a very large cat. Soft tawny fur covered the creature and a long, puffed tail was curled around Zeke’s arm.

Zeke tried to sit up but the weight of the two creatures cuddled around him, along with his muddled head, hampered him.

“Where are you going?” purred the cat. “We’re just getting acquainted. Now that you’re awake again, we can have some fun.” She wrapped her tail around the man’s waist and pulled him towards her.

Zeke tried to pull away from the cat’s tail and felt a tentacle touch his arm. He looked over to see the orange creature leaning close, lips parted in what could only be preparation for brain-sucking.

He tried jerking back again. “Get away from me, whatever you are!”

“Don’t you want to party?” the tentacled escort asked. “Your friend told us you would want to have some fun with us.” The look on her face was pouty. She reached toward Zeke.

Zeke’s mind finally connected the dots as delayed understanding struck. He recoiled in horror and tried once again to get to his feet. With a small roar he managed to stand, throwing the concubines off him. They slammed into the wall with squeals of pain and anger. He looked wildly around and spotted the door. Without another thought (Zeke was actually only capable of one thought at a time) he ran for it.

Zeke burst out of the bar and slammed through a group of aliens standing outside on the street, sending them flying like ten-pins. He didn’t bother slowing down, careening down street after street, twisting and turning until he was thoroughly lost.

The fuzziness in his mind never left. He briefly wondered what had been in that mug. Shine never did that to him. Shine usually made him feel happy and carefree, but never fuzzy.

Zeke finally stopped running when he realized that he was both lost and not being followed. By that time he was standing in a lift that looked identical to the first one he’d used. He sat down in it against one wall and leaned his head against his knees, panting.

“Destination?” the lift’s metallic voice prompted.

“Ah don’t care. Take me someplace quiet.” He was tired of the crowds and this weird place was making his head hurt.

The lift took off. Zeke was ready for it this time and didn’t panic. He waited for the contraption to stop and hoped there wouldn’t be any of the weird critters he’d seen waiting for him. He squeezed his hands into fists just in case there was.

The lift stopped and the door swished open. Zeke gaped.

He had expected more of the ugly metal buildings. Instead he saw a forest, complete with small animals and flying things. What was going on?

He stepped out and looked around. The lift itself was the only visibly artificial construct in the area. One of the small suns provided light to the massive area and small clouds floated above.

The plant-life was a wild explosion of types. Ferns, trees with leaves, trees with needles and even a few with tentacles formed a thick wall of forest. Some of the trees swayed which, at first seemed quite natural. Except, Zeke didn’t feel any breeze blowing. He didn’t feel particularly bothered by this. In fact, he really only noticed it peripherally.

Nothing looked threatening and there were no other beings around so Zeke started to stroll around the park-like area. Some trees leaned toward him as he walked but he barely saw it. All he could think about was how good it felt to be in the forest again.

For the first time in days, Zeke experienced a sense of peace. Nothing had felt right since they had gone into space. This was a lot like heaven. He wandered into the trees, trying to see everything at once.

Small creatures scampered or rolled or flew all around him. Some were furred, some were scaled and some were odd gelatinous things. Most were very strange to his Earthling eyes but some reminded him of home.

It made him wish for his rifle. His trigger finger twitched every time another one of the squirrel-type creatures chattered down at him.

His stomach rumbled reminding him that he hadn’t eaten since before he left the ship. Another good reason to have a rifle.

Still, a gun wasn’t the only way to catch a meal. As he walked he kept his eyes on the ground looking for either a hand-sized rock or a good stick. Either would do in a pinch. 

He found neither. Not so much as a pebble or pointed stick. It was darn odd. Even stranger, the grass was all the same height and colour. A few flowers broke up the monotony but no weeds, nor any small bushes. Nothing.

Weird.

He had been walking quite a while and hadn’t seen or heard anything except the sounds of the alien forest when he pushed through some hanging branches into a small, concealed grove.

The first thing he noticed was the small fire burning in the centre of the grove. It distracted him just long enough for something to drop onto his shoulders from above.

Zeke didn’t have time to think, only react. He reached back, grabbed the attacker and tossed it off his back. It was one of the few times where being stupid and doing things by instinct saved the big man (There WERE, in point of fact, other times, but the thing about going by instinct is, you rarely remember the incident. The last time involved a rather large, hungry bear. The bear didn’t survive to be witness to the occasion. It DID, however, become a very nice meal).

The creature spun through the air, landing on the far side of the clearing. Zeke recognized it immediately. It was one of the lobster creatures he had seen crushed earlier. Except, the crushed one had been healthy looking and a deep red colour.

This one was ash grey and seemed to have pieces flaking off it. One of its eye stalks was missing and instead of six legs it had five and a stub. It was the size of a large cat.

The creature reared up on one and a half pairs of rear legs. “What do you want?” It clicked at Zeke and moved towards him threatening with its oversized front pincers. “Why are you here?”

Zeke watched the creature, confused. “Huh?”

“Why are you here? Who are you?” It took another step towards Zeke pincers waving and clicking.

“Ah ain’t doing nothing,” Zeke said.

“Security sent you, didn’t they?” The creature whacked itself in the head with one pincer, knocking a chunk of grey shell off. “Well you can tell them I won’t give up!” It screeched and leapt at Zeke.

Zeke managed to grab the thing in mid-air and tossed it over his shoulder. The crustacean somersaulted into a tree. It grabbed the bark and scuttled up onto a branch and launched itself at Zeke again.

Zeke dropped to the ground. “Why are you attacking me?”

“You’re trying to send me to security. I won’t go back.” It scurried towards Zeke menacing him with its pincers once again. It grabbed onto Zeke’s ship suit.

With a yelp Zeke tore the creature off and slammed it down to the ground. The alien got a lucky grab in and gouged a quarter-sized chunk flesh from Zeke’s calf. The man yelped in pain as he jumped away from the lobster-thing. It charged the big man one last time but Zeke was ready. He stomped on it crushing the alien under his foot. It made a single squeal and died.

Zeke looked at the corpse. It reminded him of an especially large crawdad (When your stomach is empty, everything reminds you of food). His stomach rumbled.

What to do? The alien-crustacean looked awfully appetizing. And it would be a terrible to let good food go to waste. Besides, there was a fire handy.

***

Zeke sat licking the last bit of meat from his fingers. The thing had tasted a lot like a crawdad. A little tougher, maybe, but it sure filled the hole in his belly. He let out a satisfied belch and looked at the remaining crushed and scorched shell. Hard to believe the pile of rubble had tried to kill him.

Belly full and tired from his exertions, Zeke got comfortable and had a nap. He had only been sleeping a short time when a voice woke him.

“Attention Globiphon, we have you surrounded. Give up now and you will not be injured!”

Zeke sat up and looked around for the source of the voice. There was nothing around him except for trees. He blinked and rubbed his eyes. “Must be hearing things.”

“Globiphon, this is your last warning. This is Station Security. We will not tolerate your continued reign of terror and civil disobedience. Surrender now or we will take you by force.”

Zeke looked around again. Globiphon? What in tarnation is a Globiphon? And who the heck were these Station Security fellas?

As if on cue, a dozen little grey men floated over the trees. They were dressed identically in grey jumpsuits and had heads that looked five sizes too big for their spindly bodies. Almost like stick men with balloon heads.

They hovered over the clearing where Zeke stood staring up, stunned at their appearance. The grey clad security team surrounded the clearing.

They looked down at Zeke. One, presumably the leader, moved forward a short distance. “You, creature, where is Globiphon?”

“Ah don’t understand,” Zeke said. “What’s a Globiphon.”

“Globiphon is a fugitive from justice. He is a Homarian.”

“Don’t know no Globiphon.”

The Security Leader crossed its spindly arms. “Come, come, creature. We know Globiphon was here not an hour ago. We have been tracking him for some time.”

“Don’t know no Globiphon!” Zeke insisted.

The Security Leader floated closer. It spied the remains of Zeke’s meal. “By the almighty ZORK. What have you done?” It looked ill. “Team, subdue this creature. I believe it has killed and eaten Globiphon!”

The Security team went rigid and focused on Zeke. A hum rose from them and he felt a slight tickle in the back of his mind. He stared at them.

“More power! Take him out,” the Security Leader shouted.

One of his subordinates swayed a little in the air. “We’re throwing everything we’ve got, but his mind is too simple to be affected.”

“Then do it the old fashioned way. Take it out physically!” the leader ordered.

As a unit, the Security Team swooped down on Zeke. Despite their frail appearance, there were many more of them than there was Zeke and they buried him under their combined weight. He fought, throwing several into trees but there were too many. He went down.