Creepy Online short story assignment

CHARACTER

500 Hours: The Theta Six star system

Elizabeth fled.  Maxing out her thrusters as fast as they would go, she helplessly watched as her beloved battleship, now hazy in the distance—vanished into an angry blue fireball.  Pieces—pipes, armor plating, gun turrets, and other flaming debris, scattered in all directions.  The heat of the blast could be felt even inside the cocoon of her escape pod, and she began to perspire and shake uncontrollably. 

The view outside gave her mixed feelings.  The last fuel cells of her capital ship—the Transvestite, were detonating in pink plasma blooms.  Plasma reactors—especially the pink ones, were expensive as hell, but Elizabeth couldn’t help but marvel as the shimmering aura of turquoise mixed with that of the bleeding fuel. 

Her sense of monetary loss, however, was winning—she slumped to the floor, curling her body into a tight ball of misery.  Thoughts raced through her mind, her brain chasing phantom memories of the past hour.  One hour.  Just a short hour ago she was still lounging on her ship’s luxurious bridge, sipping coffee, and now she was trapped in a cramped, dimly-lit prison of a pod. 

This wasn’t supposed to happen, she angrily cried to herself.  What could’ve possibly gone wrong? 

Elizabeth wasn’t sure how long she stayed in this fetal position when the control dashboard sputtered to life.  A garbled voice popped intermittently through the static, but it was a voice that she knew all too well.

Hello... …are you there? …you …all right?  …pieces—…everywhere!  Anybody?

Jake.

Elizabeth painfully picked herself up off the floor and pressed the button. 

“Jake.”

The voice paused for a few seconds and a small holographic image of a man appeared. 

“Jesus, Liz, what happened to you?  You okay?”

“Help me, please.” Elizabeth was taken aback by how raspy her voice sounded.  “My ship…”

“I know, I know.  I saw the explosion—I think you hit a mine.  Look— (pause) that guy J-slab’s after you again.” 

“J-slab?!?  I thought…”

“I know—I know, relax.  Just relax.  I’ll protect you; setting up rendezvous coordinates as we speak… here.” the dashboard beeped, “Meet me here.”

“I’m in a pod.” Elizabeth blurted out.  “If J-slab finds me, I’m dead.”

“Right.  I see—uhh, alright.  Meet here then—Theta Six; Theta Six Service Station.  Is that okay?”

“I guess.”

“Good.  I’ll meet you there.”

“Love you, Jake.”

“Ditto, my dear.”

“Jake?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.  Over and out.” There was something about Jake’s voice in last tine that seemed a bit odd, but given the circumstances she figured she would have to ask him when she met him. 

Elizabeth sat back down and smiled.  For the first time, she was aware of the throbbing lump on the back of her head—the memories were back now and she remembered them, albeit somewhat dimly.  Images flashed before her—of her ship flying parallel to his, her delicate white hand enclosed in his, his warm lips on slowly parting hers and… 

She shivered in pleasure at the last memory. 

Destination: Theta Six.  Arriving.  The AI’s nonchalant announcement snapped her out of her reverie.  Far ahead, the aurum lights of the orbiting station beckoned welcomingly to her.  Quickly, she adjusted her hair—straightening the singed and frazzled strands and wiped the grime off her cheeks. 

Jake, I love you.

The pod docked into the hangar with a smooth purr.  The engines whined, then slowly winded down as she cut the power.   A tall, middle-aged man was already waiting on the dock—Elizabeth didn’t even need to look before she rushed into his open arms. 

“Hush, my dear.  You’re safe.”  His embrace was solid and warm.  This is pure bliss.  Elizabeth closed her eyes. 

“Happy Anniversary… Miss.”  An undeniably familiar voice—Elizabeth whirled around and saw a man in a long trench coat, and immediately began to tremble.  The brim hat, worn low, hid most of the stranger’s face, but she needed no facial features to recognize the distinctive scar on the man’s chin or the brutish firearm aimed at her. 

“J-slab.” She whispered. 

J-slab fired once, and Elizabeth ducked as the first bolt of white-hot steel imbedded itself in the opposite wall.  There was a silent click, and Elizabeth let out a small gasp.  Her back arched in pain, and she sank to the floor, but something caught her from behind and lifted her back up.  Agonizingly, Elizabeth’s eyes darted between the emotionless eyes of Jake, the glowing slug imbedded in the wall behind her, and the eerily silent figure of her nemesis.  It then dawned upon her that J-slab’s single shot had missed.  

_________________________________________________________________________________

Norman couldn’t believe it—his character was being killed before his very eyes; and there was nothing he could do about it.  Desperate, he jammed his pudgy fingers onto the keyboard in an attempt to resuscitate his love, but J-slab had already emptied his clip into the ragdoll figure slumped on the floor.   Norman’s frantic movements and screams perfectly mirrored his avatar’s feeble twitches and gasps; across the bridge of the computer screen, “Elizabeth” could clearly see her mangled body lying in an ever-spreading pool of scarlet, her wide eyes flitting about in terror as her life slowly ebbed out from the five fresh gaping holes in her chest. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

The two men watched in grim silence as their victim’s limbs paled and gradually went limp.

“You really overdid yourself there, Amber,” one said over Skype, “One of the best performances I’ve ever seen.” 

“This will make a very interesting story, won’t it?” The other responded in a feminine voice.

“What?”

“Oh, you know—how Agent Amber actually faked a year-long relationship with the mission target—that she knew all of the target’s personal secrets?"

“You were aware that there was no need to pursue that level of deception for this mission.”

Both were silent for a moment. 

“You’re getting a promotion.” J-slab finally broke the silence.

“Thank you, sir.” Amber saluted wearily.

               

                J-slab’s face had the look of concern.

                “You alright?”

“It’s over, isn’t it?” Amber asks softly. 

“Yes—mission complete.  Well done.”  J-slab’s shadow moves to pat Jake’s shadow on the shoulder, but Amber turns and cracks her fist hard across his face.

“Your trap didn’t work,” Jake’s voice snarls. “You were never a good shot.  If the target had actually intercepted the full message, it would’ve been over.”

Hello, J-slab, are you there?  The trap you set worked all right.  The pieces of that little dipshit’s ship are everywhere—do you really think there’ll be any bodies? 

J-slab wipes blood off his lip as Amber angrily hurls her silencer across the room. 

“Jake, don’t tell me you actually fell in love with her…”

Jake shakes his head. 

“My name is Amber,” she shrugs coolly.  “Amber likes playing as Jake—cold and personal.”