It’s been almost two weeks since I last posted something, very sloppy. I’ve been working a lot in RPGmaker lately and haven’t really written anything, so here is a short story that I still want to turn into a book someday.
“I don’t care what the manual says!” Shane yelled through his earpiece “I’ve got two Serks who want to make necklaces out of my intestines. We lift off the moment I’m on board!”
“Very well master” Second responded “I will await your return with anticipation”. “Lair” Shane thought.
He returned his focus to the task at hand, getting out of this wretched swamp. His boots were dirty and wet, while his skin was covered in small insect bites. He constantly had to watch his step, to not get his leg caught in the mire. He should probably slow down, but couldn’t risk it. Even above the croaks and chirps of the bog, he could hear their screeching.
This wasn’t the first time he had beat the Dardak brothers to the prize. Last time, the weren’t to happy about it and today didn’t seem any different. Worse still, this time they had the homefield advantage. The sleek, amphibious Serks were born for hunting in this warm, damp mess.
Suddenly, Shane felt himself drop to the floor, slamming his head in the cold, wet grass, the bag he was carrying sliding a few feet ahead of him. He tried to get up again, but found his foot was stuck. He looked down and saw his boot had sunken into the mud. He tried pulling it free, but that only seemed to make it sink deeper. He quickly looked around, scanning for something he could use to pull himself out. Sadly, Shane had gotten stuck in the one part of the swamp devoid of trees. “Typical” he noted. He could hear the screeching getting closer and knew he had but one option.
Running through the swamp on a boot and a sock made keeping his balance even harder, but he had no time to take off his other boot. In the distance he could hear the engines of his ship grumbling to life, but the Dardak brothers were only a few meters behind him. He started wondered how he was going to get on board without the brothers following, but stopped himself. He’d have to cross that bridge when he got to it.
Running into the clearing, he saw the box-shaped form of The Maiden resting in the middle of the field. He could see Second’s slight frame standing at the top of the ramp, kindly waving at him. “Close the ramp! Close the ramp!” Shane yelled. “But you are not yet on board master” Second called back, just loud enough to hear. “I don’t care! Just do as you’re told, you fucking drone!”.
Second pushed a button to his side and the ramp started to rise up, faster than Shane had expected. He sprinted across the clearing and leaped up, barely grabbing the edge of the ramp. Shane looked over his shoulder for a split second and saw one of the brothers jumping towards him, the sleek, clawed hands heading his way. With the last of his strength, he pulled himself onto the ramp, sliding down the other side. He heard a loud thud followed by a pair of claws grabbing the edge of the ramp, trying to gain some leverage to pull their owner inside. Luckily, the ramp was all the way up and the fingers were crushed. Shane could hear a pained shriek coming from outside, even through the ramp itself. 3 long, clawed fingers slid down the closed ramp, oozing blood. He breathed a sigh of relief.
“Those gentlemen will not be joining us, master?” Second asked. Shane shot him a glance. They said drones didn’t have emotions, but he wasn’t so sure. He sometimes suspected Second was mocking him.
Shane got up, slightly panting. He towered over Second by at least half a head, standing almost 2 meters. Second, like all drones, was exactly 1,75 high. His face had the vague, basic shape of a human, yet far more minimalistic. He lacked both ears and a nose, having small holes where these were supposed to be. His mouth lacked teeth and his head was completely devoid of hair. Second was a drone, a biological robot, engineered to serve. Shane had seen mechanical robots in his youth and missed those times. With metal robots you could clearly tell they weren’t real people, but Shane always felt uncomfortable around drones. They resemble humans just a bit to much for his taste. Still he couldn’t deny their usefulness.
“Go to the engine room and check the levels, I’m taking us into orbit. We don’t want to wait around for the ‘gentlemen’ to get back to their ship.” Second made a slight bow and walked to the end of the cargo bay, heading for the engine room. Shane took a moment to pry his other boot off and went up the ladder towards the bridge. He stopped briefly halfway up when one of his legs slipped. He held back a swear. The last thing he wanted was Second coming up and asking him if he could be of any service.
After reaching the top of the ladder, he went through the kitchen into the cockpit. He fell into the pilot chair and dropped the bag in his lap. All that fuss over some stupid plants. Still, they were illegal and thus highly sought after.
Shane spotted the small patch of pink fur hanging from the ceiling. He briefly touched it for good luck, like he always did before take-off, then pulled the flight stick towards him. The ship started slowly rising above the trees, sending birds, or at least birdlike creatures, flying in all directions. Once The Maiden had risen high enough, Shane extended the wings and gunned the main engines. The ship moved forward at great speed. Shane made the ship rise higher and higher until they were above the clouds, flying towards a setting sun. Still the ship went higher, the blue of the sky slowly turned darker and darker until little points of light started to appear. As the dark blue made way for black, the stars came into full sight.
Shane remembered the first time he watching the sky turn black like that. He had been in awe, seeing all the different constellations unveil themselves before him. He believed, back then, that he would always be amazed by it, no matter how old he’d get. He had been wrong, of course. As Shane plotted a course for Jics III, he didn’t even pay attention to them, they were merely a fact of life.
After plotting the course and feeling satisfied they wouldn’t be splattered like a bug against an errant moon, he powered up the Anti-Stein drive. The ship started shaking wildly and a panel above Shane fell open. He ignored it. Looking at the sensors he saw a small blip slowly rising from the planet’s surface. He couldn’t resist flipping it off. “Sorry guys, maybe next time.” With a last violent shake, the stars themselves faded as The Maiden was propelled at super luminous speeds.
Vedalken Treehouse 