Andrew Mackay: Pink Symphony

“No, we’re waiting here for Tripp. Just get ready,” Tor immediately thought of a question, “Don’t get angry, but… are you human?”

“Of course I’m human, you idiot,” Bonnie spat and saw Jelly in Wool’s arms, “Oh, there she is.”

“Hey.”

Bonnie lifted her boot at the end of her mechanical leg and wondered why it was vibrating, “Oh, it’s not me. Are we… traveling ?”

“We’re trying to,” Tripp entered Medix. Covered in pink slime, his face and inner-suit had seen happier, cleaner days.

He slung the K-SPARK over his shoulders and held out his arms, acknowledging his gory state, “You’re welcome.” He turned to Jaycee and held out his hand, “Fresh mag, please.”

“You got it,” Jaycee released the magazine from his gun, “Here,” he threw it at Tripp, who caught it and slotted it into his own shotgun.

“Thanks,” Tripp wiped a slew of pink gloop from his face and pulled the door shut.

“What’s the situation, Tripp?’ Wool asked. ‘I’m hearing those things got into the ship.”

“Yes, I’ve just killed about twenty of them.”

“So, they’re all dead?”

“Nope,” Tripp cleared his throat and wiped his pink sludge-splattered face, “That was just the start. We’ll be out of here soon. We need to kill however many of them are left. Where’s Baldron?”

“He, uh, didn’t make it,” Jaycee said.

Tripp hawked up a pink wad of phlegm and spat it at Tor’s face. He recoiled with apology when it splatted against the man’s forehead.

“Eww!”

“Sorry, I meant to miss you.”

Tripp barged the man out of his path and looked at the E-MRI holograph hanging in the middle of the room, “This is Jelly, right?”

“Yes,” Wool explained, carrying Jelly over to Tripp, “The brain scan came back all clear. Just a routine health check, really.”

“You okay, Jelly?”

Tripp smiled at her, hoping for a positive reception. No such luck. She pressed the side of her head against Wool’s shoulder and avoided him.

“Charming.”

He turned around and addressed Wool, Jaycee, Tor, and Bonnie, “Okay, here’s the lowdown. We’re screwed. Manuel’s trying his best to get us out of this godforsaken place, but the thrusters are playing up and we might not have enough throttle to reach the sky, let alone orbit,” he shot Tor a look of utter disgust, “Ain’t that right, comrade ?

“I’m sorry.”

“I swear on my wife and son , Tor,” Tripp grunted, about ready to execute the man with his own bare hands, “If you say you’re sorry just one more damn time, I’ll tear off your head and thread it on a skewer along with Baldron’s.”

Tor pressed his hands together and decided it was best not to call his captain’s bluff.

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

“Yes, Captain.”

“Good,” Tripp reached into his belt, retrieved his Rez-9 and push it into Wool’s hands, “Bonnie, are you carrying?”

“Yeah, just the one piece,” Bonnie gripped her firearm and thumped her metal leg, “Got the K-12 on as a backup.”

“Stay behind Jaycee, then. He and I are locked and ready to blast.”

“I don’t have a gun,” Tor tried, temporarily forgetting that he was the bad guy.

“Why don’t you try punching them in the face? See how far that gets you?” Tripp winked at Wool but she hadn’t the heart to smirk back.

“This isn’t funny, Tripp,” Tor said.

“Yes it is. You’re good at hitting things, aren’t you?’ Tripp pointed at Wool, ‘Especially women.”

“That’s irrelevant! If we go out there unarmed I’ll get killed.”

“Want me to tear your arms off, then?” Jaycee joked, enjoying the man’s distress, ‘I’ll them both off and batter you to death with them.”

“No, armed , you dummy. Give me a weapon at least .”

“No guns for you, ass hat,’ Tripp spat. ‘If you die, you die. We’ll be sure to send N-Gage your loved ones and tell them how awesome you are, or, hopefully, soon to be were .”

Jelly’s whiskers sparked up. “Miewww,” She clawed at Wool’s arm, wanting to be set down on the bed.

“Okay, honey.”

Everyone watched as she dropped Jelly to her mattress, “Voice in brain,” she shuddered and held her claws to her face, “Pink… Pink Symphony .”

“What’s she talking about now?” Jaycee asked, ready to storm out and do battle. The bizarre interlude was preventing him from doing his job, “We’d better go.”

“No, wait,” Wool leaned over Jelly and looked at her face, “What’s wrong, honey?”

Jelly yelped and swiped her infinity claws at Wool, tearing three slits across her cheek, “ROOWAAR!”

“Gah!” Wool cupped her face and stepped back against the wall, “She scratched me!”

Tripp ran over and held her arm, “Wool!

Jelly snatched the radio on her bedside desk and slammed it against her thighs. The bone in her leg cracked pushing her feet out a further two inches, “Pink…”

She dropped the radio to the floor and writhed around in pain, “Waaaah.”

The black device hit the floor, cracking apart. Beethoven’s 5th Symphony piped up.

Da-da-da-dummm…

The crew backed up as Jelly’s chest hulked into the air and carried the rest of her flailing body ten inches above the bed.

“Shaaah…” Her childlike voice deepened, mid-cry, “Shaaantaa…”

Wool caught sight of a commotion coming from outside the window, “Look, out there!”

The two smaller suns in the sky converged into the biggest. Its rings whizzed around at speed, vacuuming the grains of sand off the floor like a reverse waterfall.

The ship shuddered and rocked around forcing the horizon to creep back into view.

“I don’t like this,” Tripp said. “What the hell is happ—”

THUD !

Jelly crashed back to the bed and wailed, “Ugghhh…”

Bonnie widened her eyes at Jelly. Her body had lengthened by five inches. Still covered by the blanket, she shook her head and flicked her ears, “They come.”

“What?” Jaycee lost his temper. “ Who come?”

“We stay,” she said in her huskier voice, barely registering any pain, “We fight.”

“Fight what?” Tripp asked, about to explode with frustration.

Jelly’s blinks turned her orange eyes pink. Her whiskers lit up. Her voice husky and gravelly, as if possessed, “Do you know why you are here?”

Magnetized by Jelly’s transformation, Tripp cleared his throat and calmed down, “No, we don’t. Tell us.”

“Look outside and see,” she said, attracting the undivided attention of everyone in the room.

All sets of eyes averted to the window.

Hundreds of thousands of creatures scurried across the sand away from the ocean. Many crammed into each other as they funneled forward like a virus.

“God, look at that.”

“We gave Jelly The Gift ,” the girl’s voice slowed down, near unrecognizable, “We need your help.”

“That’s not Jelly talking,” Wool said.

“Who are you?”

“Pink Symphony. Creation. Evolve.”

“Lessense!” Jaycee prepared to hop through the window and go down in a blaze of glory, “Stupid name for the creation of life—”

“—It is the closest name we have. Beings from your universe cannot comprehend our true name,” Jelly swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood to her feet. She pulled the E-MRI pad from her chest and clutched the blanket around her neck. “To you, we are Pink Symphony. Pink, because that’s as close as your eyes can process…”

Jelly looked at the radio on the floor and sighed. A battered, tinny version of Beethoven’s classic whimpered across the ground.