Mark McGinnis - The Simpleton

Over time, Tow spent many hours doing in-depth research on his adversary, looking for areas of weakness. Perhaps some psychotic malady that would give Tow an upper hand. But he never found one. Holg was a warrior, through and through. Even among his own kind, he was considered ruthless. Ruthless and unyielding, he never ceased his aggression. Giving up was as foreign a concept to Holg as committing violence was to Tow.

Focusing his attention again on the AI orb, he wondered if that lone, small drone-like device could actually make a difference. Planet Earth was in the midst of something heinous. Those other two Howsh ships were repeating the same systematic, city-by-city annihilation they’d committed on Mahli. It needed to stop . They’d already won.

“I will go with you, orb. It’s time I personally speak with Captain Holg.”

As Tow descended the gangway, he spotted his favorite walking stick, lying nearby on the ground. As he’d done so many times before, he attempted, using his mind, to retrieve it, but soon found he was far too weak to elevate it off the ground. Instead, he walked the short distance, bent over, and picked it up one-handed. Then, after walking around for a while, he turned back and faced the Evermore , wondering if he would ever see his ship again. He pictured the heritage pod, entombed within the lower deck, and thought of Soweng. His heart ached. I’m so very sorry, my love.

He was weaker now and walking was difficult. As Tow and the orb moved farther into the trees, he queried the AI orb about any recently transpired events that he was unaware of. Then Tow said, “You can hurry ahead, orb. I will catch up.”

His face hurt where Holg, the Howsh with the red sash, clawed him. When a loud tone blared out somewhere above them the alien rushed off.

Now, with so much time to think—and little else to do—Cuddy wondered how the Howsh accomplished the arduous task of chaining up, feet first, all the prisoners. But he soon realized two large robots were also moving about. They didn’t look anything like the AI orb on the Evermore . These robots were similar in size and girth to the Howsh themselves. Peculiar looking, they also were covered with fur—similar to that on the Howsh.

Cuddy watched the two robots silently work together, removing one of the dead bodies from the compartment. That was a good thing—the smell had gone way beyond toxic. Efficient in their movements, one robot raised itself high off the deck. Reaching out with a clawed mechanical arm, it opened a clasp attached to the chain above. The lifeless body of a large woman dropped to the deck, making an awful-sounding thud . Effortlessly, the second robot lifted her up off the deck and carried her from the compartment. The first robot then turned its attention on the next corpse—again, lifting itself up high in order to release the clasp. Another body, an old man this time, dropped below with a loud thud . It too was carted off.

The two robots next moved toward Sheriff Bone’s hanging body. As one robot began to rise, the sheriff yelled, “Get away from me! I’m not dead yet! Get away!”

Cuddy knew that the sheriff was still alive, seeing him every so often twitch or move. But he understood how the robots could make that mistake. The older man, black and blue everywhere, looked to be in pretty bad shape. He had been terribly beaten.

Cuddy estimated it took the robots about ten minutes before the compartment was completely cleared, free of dead bodies. They left then, not returning. His eyes nervously glanced toward the entrance. Though trying hard not to think about it, he found it nearly impossible not to, praying he wouldn’t see the robots again—carrying in Momma. Prayed they wouldn’t find her back in the house and grab her, then return and hang her up as they had all the others.

Cuddy by now had become fairly proficient at moving his hips—pivoting his body around either left or right—so he could see the others. They all seemed to be asleep. He stared at Jackie for a while. Her long straw-colored hair hung down, swaying back and forth like she was underwater, moved by invisible currents.

Reluctantly, he turned his thoughts back to the strange incident that occurred at the house. When somehow he’d made that alien’s hand… vaporize , using only the sheer force of his mind. Suddenly it went… Poof! For sure, the AI orb assisted him in some way. Could he now, mentally, do a similar thing on his own? The same way Tow so easily could? His sessions in the wellness chamber, he knew, did more than just fix his brain.

Off and on, Cuddy tried to manipulate things in his surroundings. Currently, he was attempting to make a distant and stationary hanging chain move about. But nothing seemed to be happening. What did the orb say to him? Use your mind… your will to prevail. Well… wasn’t that exactly what he was struggling to do? Cuddy thought about that for a while. Perhaps, it wasn’t so much what he was attempting to do, but how he felt while doing it. The orb’s presence in his head at that time had made him feel safe. Safe and confident. He certainly didn’t feel that way now. How could he, hanging upside down, along with Kyle and Jackie, when they all were in so much danger?

He noticed Jackie was now awake, looking at him. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Trying to move that chain, on the other side of the room, with my mind.”

“Seriously? Why would you want to do that?”

“Because of something I did… back in the house. It’s hard to explain. Can you do something for me?”

Jackie almost smiled. “There’s not much I can do for you, or anyone, in my current predicament.”

“Can you… kinda just talk to me? Um… like tell me I can do it? That you believe in me. Or something like that?”

“I guess… sure, why not!”

Cuddy, focusing, brought his full attention back to the hanging chain and waited. “Okay… go ahead.”

“You can do this, Cuddy. You can do anything you set your mind to. I believe in you, Cuddy.”

Cuddy liked the sound of her voice. That she no longer spoke to him like he was plain stupid. As his mind began to wander a bit, he quickly reined his thoughts back in, concentrating on the distant, four-to-five-foot-long chain. Then, as if he were extending an invisible hand across space, he gave it a little push. The chain visibly began to sway back and forth. It wasn’t as dramatic as making an alien’s hand burst into a mist of blood and gore, but still, it was something. Yes, I can do it!

“Look Cuddy! Do you see that? The chain… it’s moving,” Jackie exclaimed excitedly.

“Oh for fuck’s sake… they’re all moving. Get real, retard,” Tony Bone said.

The truth was, all the chains seemed to be swaying somewhat. Perhaps Tony was right. That it was simply wishful thinking on his part.

“Don’t call him that, Tony!” Kyle ordered.

Cuddy noticed that those hanging were all wide-awake now, except for Officer Plumkin, who was snoring loudly. A large wet spot darkened his crotch area where he’d peed himself. Soon Cuddy felt he would do the same, as he needed to urinate pretty badly. Not something he would want Jackie to ever witness.

Holg, the Howsh captain, still wearing the red sash, entered the compartment and headed directly for Cuddy, his teeth bared. Evidently, something unlikely had occurred since he was last pulled away. The painful claw marks on Cuddy’s cheek began to burn in anticipation of what he knew was coming.

Holg came to a stop directly in front of Cuddy. Pent up anger permeated the air around him like a bad smell. Cuddy hadn’t noticed, until they were practically on top of him, that the two furry robots were there as well. Then two mechanical arms came around him and gripped him tight, below his shoulders and around his chest, in a vise-like hold that made it nearly impossible to breathe. The second robot released Cuddy’s bound hands from behind his back, but the relief he suddenly felt was short-lived.