Jon Merz - Prey

“Maybe we’re still dreaming,” said Nung. “Maybe this is all part of one big hallucination. We’ll wake up soon, each in our own warm beds and think about how strange it felt but then that will be it.”

Wilkins smiled. “Nung, that’s the biggest load of horse shit I’ve ever heard. If I thought I could wake up, I’d be screaming my ass off right now.”

“Just a thought.”

Julia looked at one wall in the room. A smooth gray metallic sheen covered the expanse but there was nothing else on the wall itself. Was that the door?

She heard a vague hissing sound.

“What was that?”

Wilkins turned. “What?”

“I hear something.”

Nung turned. “I hear it, too.”

“Wish I had my gun,” said Wilkins.

Julia heard another hiss. Was it another door opening? Were they coming for them now? God, she wished Mick was here!

The wall slid up suddenly. For a moment she couldn’t see anything beyond because the corridor outside was draped in darkness.

But then she saw the eyes.

The head.

The body.

Oh my God, she thought. He looks just like all the pictures she’d ever seen. Except for his head which was flattened and jutted out behind his back.

Was this what they’d stumbled on to?

Mick had been right. Two species. This one didn’t resemble the dinocreature except a bit in the skull structure.

Nung whimpered slightly as the creature approached. He stood perhaps five feet tall in total. He walked past them without looking at any of them and went straight to one of the computer consoles and worked several knobs.

Julia watched him. Was he going to communicate with them? Was he going to talk? He had a very small mouth. Perhaps he couldn’t.

Where was Mick?

The creature turned and stared at her. Julia’s mind went blank and then a rush of images surged through her. She could see her dream now. She could see the bright lights outside her bedroom window. She could feel her body go weightless and drift through her window.

Outside.

Up.

Higher and higher.

She was surrounded by some yellow haze that acted like protection for her.

And then she was aboard the craft.

She felt the cold metal table press into her back. She was naked. Lying there exposed. She glanced around and saw other bodies laying nearby. All races. All creeds. All naked.

Then they came for her. More just like the creature standing in the room now. They approached the table and peered at her closely.

Then she saw the metal instruments.

And screamed.

Beside her, Wilkins and Nung screamed at the same time.

The images vanished.

Julia’s head dropped to her chest. She tried to suck in as much oxygen as she could. She was sweating profusely.

The creature considered them for another moment and then walked out of the room.

Wilkins took a deep breath.

Nung shook his head. “My God.”

“Abducted,” said Wilkins. “Motherfuckers.”

“So that’s the connection then,” said Julia. “We were all abductees. All taken together. I saw you guys on the ship with me.”

“I saw you, too,” said Nung. “Can this really be true?”

“I don’t know how it couldn’t,” said Wilkins.

“So, what was that guy doing to us?”

Julia shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe giving us back our memories? So we could understand?”

“Yeah, but why? Why would they do that now? I’d think they’d want something like this to remain a secret for as long as possible.”

“Unless…” Wilkins voice drifted off.

Julia looked at him. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“Spit it out already!”

He took another breath. “What if there’s no need for this to be a secret anymore?”

“You think they’re going public?”

“Not exactly,” said Wilkins. “Maybe there’s just no need for us to be kept in the dark anymore.”

“But — “ Julia stopped. “Oh shit.”

Wilkins nodded. “Guess we might find out what happened to Havel and Vikorsky sooner than we thought.”

Nung chewed his lip. “You were right Wilkins.”

“About what?”

“About things getting a whole lot worse.”

The door to the chamber slid open five minutes later. Two of the creatures came into the room. They made no attempt to communicate and Julia found this intriguing. Were they communicating telepathically?

One of the creatures looked at her and a wave of pain swept through Julia’s head. She screamed at the incredible agony.

Wilkins jerked his body. “Stop doing that you fucking bastards!”

Nung tried to get his hands free.

The creatures remained unmoved and seemed mildly amused by the efforts of Wilkins and Nung. The pain in Julia’s head finally waned and she could see through the sweat pouring down her face.

“Oh my God.”

She stared at the creatures. Their heads fanned back and out like their skulls had almost been flattened and spread out like a fan. Was this a sign that they were extremely intelligent? She supposed it was given that they didn’t seem to use their miniscule mouths for anything.

But what did they want? And why had they kidnapped everyone?

Except Mick.

She shut the thought out of her head, scared that the creatures might be able to see him and then raise an alarm for the dinocreatures to go look for him. And right now, he was their only hope of ever getting out of this place alive.

The creatures surveyed each of them in turn. They started with Wilkins and then moved to Nung and then to Julia. When their eyes peered into hers, Julia felt herself go cold. There seemed to be no emotion coming from them. They were without any care. No mercy.

No compassion at all.

She marveled at their long arms and legs and short trunk. Their heads seemed almost too big for their bodies. How had they evolved to this point where they seemed frail and unable to do much of anything that required brute physical force?

Was that what they used the dinocreatures for?

They peered closer at her for longer than they had the others. Julia hoped that was a good sign. Maybe they’d release her.

She almost laughed.

Doubtful.

They moved back to Nung and seemed to confer with each other — again without making any sound whatsoever. One of them walked to the main console in the room and pushed several buttons.

A hiss sounded above their heads and Julia looked up. She could see a clear tube sliding down toward her cylinder.

They were sealing them in!

“Stop it! Don’t hurt us!”

It seemed silly to shout at them. But she had to try. The tubes slid over and Julia felt a vacuum effect in her ears, as if all the sound was being shut out from her. She tried shouting but only heard her only voice.

Another hiss sounded in the tubes and she felt lightheaded.

Gas.

They were putting them out. But what for? Julia tried knocking her head against the tube but only succeeded in hurting herself. The gas enveloped her. It blurred the room they were in.

Julia saw the creatures watching them intently and then everything went black.

When she came to, they were in a different room. This one was gray and metallic like the others but there were several horizontal slabs scattered about the room. Huge machines with long appendages waited.

Julia looked to her right and saw only Wilkins.

His eyes were fixed ahead of him, his mouth drawn tight.

Where was Nung?

She turned and then saw him. On the table closest to them. He was naked and strapped down to the slab. Next to him on another table the creatures had strapped down something that looked like a velociraptor dinosaur. Julia looked at the dinosaur and saw it’s jaws snapping angrily. She could imagine it was screeching or chirping or whatever sound dinosaurs made.