Andrew Mackay - Pink Symphony

“This is Handax Skill from P.A.A.C, People Against Animal Cruelty. I hope someone is watching. We take responsibility for the assassination of Dimitri Vasilov. We breached the animal compound at USARIC’s headquarters at Cape Claudius, which is where I am broadcasting from.

“If it moves, shoot it,” a voice shouted form within the corridor.

Handax continued his last will and testament into his forearm. “I know someone out there is watching. What USARIC has done is unforgivable. What we found when we breached the compound is even worse…”

The footsteps grew louder and louder, as did the angry shouting of orders to kill everything on sight.

“Remy Gagarin’s cat, Bisoubisou, never boarded Opera Beta. We found her body at the compound along with hundreds of others. Those we found alive we set free. USARIC has killed three of my team. Moses, Denny, and Leif. They’ll deny it, of course. They’ll claim they went missing and have no involvement. In a matter of seconds, I’ll be joining them.”

“Over there!” yelled an umpteenth USARIC mercenary as he entered the room, “Hey, you. Put your arms above your head and drop to your knees.”

Handax obliged the official and faced his forearm, still broadcasting, “Can you hear that? Here they are, look.”

He tilted his forearm forward, displaying a dozen USARIC mercs looking back at him with their weapons drawn. In that very moment, Handax’s broadcast evolved into a live feed for his inevitable execution.

One viewer who saw Handax’s Individimedia broadcast was seven-year-old Jamie Anderson, who watched the events play out on a holographic image in his bedroom.

“Handax? Is that you ?” Jamie muttered in astonishment.

Upside-down footage of the heavily armed USARIC mercenaries greeted the viewer.

“We will not lie down until USARIC reverses its decision to use animals for space exploration,” Handax’s voice emitted over the broadcast as the image lowered to the ground. He’d dropped to his knees.

The first mercenary hooked his finger around the trigger of his gun, “Hey, blue hair . Are you broadcasting?”

“Death to human scum who practice inhumane—”

“—Stop that Individimedia broadcast, right now!” ordered the mercenary.

Handax squeezed his eyes shut and yelled at the top of his lungs. “Death to human scum who practice inhumane treatment of animals—”

BANG-BANG-BANG-THUMP!

Jamie shrieked and held his hands over his mouth as the point-of-view of the live feed crashed to the floor. Not seeing the violence play out on the footage was much worse than seeing it. Handax’s arm slapped to the floor, offering the viewer a front-row ticket of a first-person death.

Jamie Anderson’s mind went into overdrive. He stared at the screen, open-jawed and traumatized. After a moment or two, he turned his opened bedroom door, “Mom!”

“I don’t get it. I saw Haloo die right in front of me . On the operating table. No pulse, nothing.”

Jaycee’s suspicion didn’t subside as the crew approached Botanix. The door had been shattered – the result of an explosion.

He vented his frustration – quietly, and confidently. He kept his grip on Tor’s Decapidisc, forcing the man forward, “Ain’t that right, Russian?”

“I don’t know,” Tor said.

“Yeah. You don’t know very much, do you?”

“Whatever that pink stuff is, it’s done no lasting damage,” Tripp whispered back. “You think you saw her die. But you’re no medician.”

Wool glanced at Tripp as they approached the door to Botanix. “Well, I am a medician, and something isn’t right, here.”

Haloo reached the door and ran her palm over Jelly’s head. “Look, girl. We’re here.”

“Meow,” Jelly shuffled around in her arms, wanting to get down. Haloo wouldn’t release her. Instead, she kissed Jelly on the head and looked into her orange eyes.

“Are you ready, honey?”

“Mwaah,” Jelly’s saw something in Haloo’s face that terrified her. She squealed and jumped out of her arms, landing paws-first to the floor, “Meow.”

She made a bee line for Wool legs and took refuge behind them.

“Hey, girl. What’s up?”

Jelly whined and tilted her head up to Wool. Her inner-suit had split open across her two front arms.

“You’ve damaged your skin, girl,” she crouched to her knees and held Jelly’s arm, “How did that happen—?”

“—She’s grown, Wool,” Haloo smiled sweetly and held out her hand, threatening to press the panel on the wall. “She’s growing.”

“Growing?” Wool collected Jelly in her arms and inspected her suit.

The underside, covering the belly, had torn at the seams. Her two hind legs bulged through the legs of the suit. Even the stitched named tag – J. Anderson – hung from the material.

“She’s gotten heavier.”

“What’s going on, Haloo?” Tripp was ready to take out his gun. He saw that Jaycee was already a few steps ahead of him in that respect.

“Oh,” Haloo giggled palmed the panel, “It’s okay, don’t be nervous. Something fantastic is coming.”

“Yeah, you keep saying that,” Jaycee squeezed the handle on his K-SPARK, “It’s not helping.”

“Good people of Opera Beta. I have something fantastic to show you.”

The door to Botanix slid open.

A thunderous draught flew along the walkway and shot through the door, carrying whatever remained of the pink mist with it.

In the distance a chorus of classical music wailed around. Quite unusual for Botanix. Haloo usually liked it quiet and peaceful in there, being the crew’s botanist.

Haloo’s hair lifted and rippled across her shoulders as she embraced the opened door, “Come, see…” she said as she drifted into the brilliant white light.

Tor took a deep breath and tilted his head. He was greeted by the metal disc housed around his neck. “You’re not seriously going to follow her, are you?”

“She seems to know what’s going on,” Tripp said. “It’s a room full of plants and fresh water—”

“—Correction, Tripp,” Jaycee interrupted, taking a step back, defying all reason to enter the chamber. “It was a room full of water and plants until that bomb went off. How do we know it’s not contaminated?”

Tripp considered the facts and pulled out his Rez-9. “Good point. You stay here with Tor. Make sure he doesn’t run off. Wool?”

“Yes, Tripp?”

“We’ll go in and see what Haloo’s got to say. We’ll take Jelly with us.”

“Okay,” Wool double-checked the proposal with Jelly. She did this by smiling at her face, waiting for as positive a reaction as a human could expect from a cat. Jelly licked Wool’s glove, excitedly.

“Okay,” Tripp thumped Jaycee on the back, forgetting that his exo-suit was made of much stronger stuff than his flesh and bone. “Ah, damn.”

“What did you do that for?” Jaycee asked, failing to get the joke.

“Just trying to be friendly.”

“Well don’t,” Jaycee snapped. “Just get in and get out.”

“We’ll be right back, as they say.”

“No, don’t say that,” Jaycee huffed. “Don’t say anything . Just go in there and get the hell out.”

“Yes, good idea.”

Jaycee yanked Tor’s Decapidisc around, ensuring it caused the man a healthy amount of discomfort, “If you’re not back in three minutes, I’m coming in there all guns blazing, leaving this headless piece of crap to paint the floor red. Is that acceptable, Captain?”