Andrew Mackay - Pink Symphony

Tor puffed his chest out, ready to take the inevitable beating his next sentence would initiate. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“We’re doing precisely what you’re telling us to do. Baldron and I aren’t heroes, but we’re working with you, aren’t we?”

“Only because my captain insists on it.”

“Okay, fine,” Tor screamed in Jaycee’s face, “Kick and punch us both to death, then. Let’s see how far you get without us.”

Jaycee’s patience was about to end. He lifted his glove and threatened to active their Decapidiscs.

“Jesus, you and your big mouth, Viktor,” Baldron backed away in an attempt to disassociate himself with his comrade. He pointed his finger at Jaycee, “ He’s in control, not us. Don’t give him any more excuses to hit that damn button.”

“Well said, Landaker,’ Jaycee grinned. “I’ve been instructed to remove both your heads if either of you so much as fart in a clear air zone.”

Tor backed down. He couldn’t argue with that statement.

“So, here’s what we’re gonna do. Tor, you’re gonna stay here and complete Manuel’s scan, or whatever the hell he does. Baldron, you and I are gonna go to the engine and fix whatever it is needs fixing so we can get the hell out of this pink paradise.”

Tor snorted and fought to keep his dignity intact. He didn’t acknowledge Jaycee’s instruction.

“Do you understand what I’ve just said, comrade ?”

“ Yes ,” Tor spat, deeply unhappy and full of sarcasm, “I read you loud and clear.”

“Good.”

Bonnie pulled her body across the desecrated row of plants. Inch by inch, she got closer to Jelly, who lay on her side cleaning herself with her tongue.

She coughed and spluttered occasionally, spitting out tufts of fur to the ground. Every time she looked over at Bonnie from between the charcoaled vegetation she froze solid, keeping her eyes on her.

“Meow,” Jelly licked her titanium infinity claws with her tongue. She’d gotten used to the zinc-like taste over time.

“Hey, girl,” Bonnie removed her Rez-9 from her mouth and set it to the ground, “Stay where you are. Help is coming.”

Jelly didn’t seem the slightest bit concerned. She flicked her ears and shot Bonnie in a vicious look, “Maaoow.”

“Stay there, I’m coming for you.”

Jelly began to whelp as if overcome by illness. Her throat constricted due to her coughs and splutters.

“Are you feeling okay—”

“Meaooowww,” came the creepy response. A deadened, throaty howl of turmoil. Jelly fell back and rolled around, croaking up a storm.

“Jeez, what’s wrong with you?”

Jelly hopped onto all fours and shook her entire body. Strands of fur flicked in all directions. She pushed her right hind leg back, intending to move away into the glorious pink-hued beach front.

“No, no, don’t—” Bonnie thumped the grip of her Rez-9 to the ground and took aim at the cat, “Don’t go, Anderson.”

Jelly took another step back, this time with her left hind leg. Now was the time to test her synthetic human.

“Meow,” Jelly spat out a rope of pink drool.

“I mean it, sweetie,” Bonnie flicked the safety catch down with her thumb, arming her Rez-9. She blinked hard and squeezed a drop of pink liquid from her right eye, “Don’t move.”

Jelly tested the standoff once again, seconds away from an attempt to run off into Pink Symphony.

“What’s happened to you, girl?” Bonnie whispered at her as she tightened her grip on the gun, “Tell me what’s going on.”

Jelly relaxed on the spot and tilted her head.

Swish !

The door to Botanix slid open behind Bonnie’s heel. Startled, Jelly launched into the air and flipped around, headed for Pink Symphony.

“Anderson!” Tripp screamed after her as she bolted across the metal grille and onto the sand leading to nowhere.

Wool darted after her with her arms outstretched, “Jelly, come back.”

Jelly bolted through the opening in the wall.

BOMP!

Her nose and forehead scrunched together, the result of a vicious impact against a transparent barrier preventing her from escape. “Miaow!”

Wool’s feet splashed through stream of fresh water and ground to a halt. Aghast, she witnessed her feline friend tumbled over in pain.

“Jelly, stop,” Wool reached the cat and scooped her up in her arms, “Hey, sweetie. What’s wrong?”

Jelly blinked a few times and swiped the air with her claws in a fit of rage, “Miaow!”

“Hey, calm down,” Wool lifted her up under her arms and looked into her eyes, “Something’s wrong with you, girl,” Wool turned to Tripp, “I need to get her to Medix.”

“Okay, is she all right?”

“I don’t know,” Wool ran across the puddle and turned to Bonnie, “What did you do to her?”

“ Me ? I didn’t do anything to her.”

“Her heart is racing, look,” Wool rocked Jelly in her arms in an attempt to calm her down, “Something’s hassling her.”

“ She ’s feeling hassled?” Bonnie grabbed Tripp’s hand and stood on her one, good leg, “Aw, poor thing. She’s all hassled, is she?”

“Yes, she is,” Wool walked off with Jelly in her arms, “Come on, girl. Let’s get you checked out.”

“That cat is nothing but a liability!” Bonnie screamed after Wool as she exited the area.

Tripp stared at Pink Symphony. Tiny silhouetted figures crept over the sandy dune’s horizon and scuttled toward the ship’s opening.

“Look, look,” he tugged at Bonnie’s arm, “Look at them.”

“I know. I met one when I was out there.”

“Really?” Tripp gasped, “What happened?”

“It met a pretty messy end, to be honest,” Bonnie slung her arm over Tripp’s shoulder and nodded at the door, “Seen the state of my suit? It sucks.”

“It went down that easy?”

“Right in the middle of its nasty face,” Bonnie raised the stump on her right leg. “Take me to the fit room. If I need to fight those things, you need me upright, don’t you?”

“No Fit Room for you, Bonnie. We’re going to N-Vigorate to get you re-limbed first.”

Hundreds of fleshy, twelve-limbed creatures reached the invisible barrier between the broken section of Botanix’s back wall and Pink Symphony.

BAM. THUD-BANG-THUD.

The creatures squealed and slammed their thick talons against the barrier, wanting to get in and murder anything breathing.

“What do you know about these things?” Bonnie asked as she hopped to the door using Tripp for balance.

“Not as much as you.”

“Huh?”

“Well, you’ve disposed of one of them already. I haven’t. And I’d rather not if I don’t have to.”

“Nothing from Manuel?” Bonnie asked.

“No, he’s busy trying to get us out of here.”

They reached the door and took a final look at what might happen to them if they weren’t able to escape. Death by at least one hundred fleshy spider things .

“SCREEEEEE!”

The largest of the creatures wailed from its knuckled mid-section. Its front four talons daggered at the see-through barrier.

“I dunno what those things are,” Tripp muttered as he helped Bonnie through the door, “But someone had better give us some answers pretty damn fast.”

Jelly struggled for freedom as Wool released her onto her bed. She fought back with an intensity previously unseen by Wool. The claws came out. Swipes were thrown.

“For heaven’s sake, Jelly,” Wool felt her heart sink as she pinned her forearms against Jelly’s. At least she couldn’t hit back. “Calm down. You’ll work yourself into a frenzy.”