Hey! It’s Tuesday again! Recently Tuesdays became a whole lot more fun, because it is the day to post a new submission to the #Blogbattle contest! I decided to enter with the Episode 7 of my ongoing space series. Here it is!

#BlogBattle#49, Genre: Sci Fi.

Prompt word: “Lollypops” 

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Click here for all Episodes

Episode 7

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The smell of a cherry pie was the last thing I expected in the afterlife.

“Wake up, sleepy head…”

The gentle woman’s voice rolled through my head like an ocean tide.

“Would you like some coffee? I’ll make you some… Or maybe a glass of milk?” The voice floated in the sky like a kite. Then I saw the kite, and the kite saw me. I smiled, the kite smiled back. What a strange kite, I thought.

The kite and I floated above the waves for some time without saying a word, although I  suspected that the kite did not speak because it’s mouth was busy sucking on a lollipop.

I realized that my toes poked holes through my socks. Don’t you hate when your toes stick out of the holes? The sensation was annoying as if someone tickled my brain with a feather.

The kite retrieved the lollipop from it’s mouth, dipped it in the feathers sticking out from the torn pillow and shoved it right in my mouth. Moving my head away, I pressed my lips together as tight as I could.

Covered in goosebumps, I broke into a sweat. My entire body was shaking. I wanted to scream, but no sound came out. At first. But then, I finally managed to clear my throat and open my eyes.

“Who is here?” I asked in the darkness.

“Oh, you are finally awake!” Said the woman’s voice, but everything around was black. “Have a glass of milk.”

I felt something smooth and cold pressing against my lips. It could very well  be a glass of milk, but before drinking it, I needed to know, WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON!

“I can’t see anything… Why can’t I see?”

“Your optic nerve is damaged. We cannot do anything for you at the moment.”

“We… Who is we? And stop sticking this thing in my mouth.” I protested and realized that I cannot move my hands. They were restrained behind my back. I also realized that I was on my side, on the surface that conformed to the shape of my body.  That made me feel even ickier. Right now I’d rather prefer the hard floor. This whole situation messed with my senses to the point of making me nauseous.

“One step at a time, brother. First, we need to get you well.”

“Untie me.”

“That I cannot do.”

“Why?”

“Such are my orders. They know  you’ve been using the device on your wrist and that you will try to cause problems.”

“You bet my ass I will cause problems! More problems than you can imagine!”

“See! That’s what I am talking about. Humans are so… tumultuous.” The woman’s voice uttered the last word with a dramatic flare.

“I will not tell anything until you start explaining what is going on.”

“Well, ok. As you wish. You are a prisoner of Unkari. More so, you are a criminal. You’ve committed a capital offense. And you will be brought before the court. Soon. Until now, you must get well. You almost died from asphyxiation.”

“Yes. I remember. The ship exploded. I was tumbling in space.”

“You are extremely lucky. Unkari didn’t intend to keep you alive. But they are not murderers, not like you. When they saw you on their scanners, they showed mercy.”

“Who are you.”

“I am she.”

“You mean, a woman?”

“Well, yeah. But it is my name. My name is She. I am your liaison for the trial.”

“What kind of name is that?”

“It’s a standard female name. Why?”

“Ok, if you say so. So you are my lawyer, is that it?”

“Yes, I guess. Well, no. Actually I am not. A lawyer would mean that we are going to engage in an adversarial process. This is not what is going to  happen. There is no need for such a process because your guilt is self-evident.”

“What  guilt?”

“Really? Is that what you want to do? Ok, let’s play it this way. Let’s see. You and your people invaded Unkari space with a military vessel. When Unkari ordered your people to surrender,  you opened fire. When your people were finally  captured, you continually attempted to escape and kill Unkari Warriors.”

“I am a soldier. This is my job. Like your job is to talk to me.”

“Your job does not remove your responsibility for your actions. The facts that I just recounted only describe the general pattern of your behavior. They do not incriminate you directly. You are guilty of murdering one Unkari Warrior with exceptional cruelty. Remember? You set him on fire. That’s one charge. Your second charge is that you led another Warrior to commit treason. Remember? Because of your threats the Noble Warrior surrendered his vessel to the Earth Nations. Does any of that have factual errors?”

“No, no factual errors. But the whole thing is misinterpreted. Unkari are preparing for a war against humans. They were testing some kind of weapon capable of destroying humanity. We were only gathering information. That is why we were on Erinozhan.”

“Look, this may be your way of telling a story. If you want my opinion, the way you spin it does not make any difference. But I will be respectful of you, because your hours are numbered. And you better get something to eat. Who knows, it may be your last meal after all.”

“I have so many questions. What is going on, where am I, who are you, where is River?”

“No more questions. You either eat, or I leave. So what’s it going to be now, Reinsford Mazula?”

“Is that cherry pie I smell?”

“Yes it is. At least in terms of chemical composition. Or close enough. But it’s not bad. Try it.”

‘She’ pressed something to my lips that smelled like almond and pastry. All of a sudden I realized that I was shaking with hunger. What the hell… I scooped the stuff  with my lips. It had a puree consistency, resembling mashed potato, only with a cherry pie flavoring.

“You Unkari are terrible cooks.”

“Oh, but I am not an Unkari. I am a human, just like you are, my brother.”

[to be continued]

By Ellie Maloney

Click here for more short stories.