TOC MetaStories: Ineen Aldrop's 'He Stood taller Than Most'

Part 15 -Two Steps Forward-

Paulie followed the miriam down the alley for a short while before he noticed that the atmosphere was different. Bounding up to the detective’s side with a leap, he asked him, “What are we doing walking through the alley?”

He got the answer he was expecting. Especially after everything else they had been through that day. “Well, I can’t very well drag a wild urrenian through the night streets of Korscam can I?” Paulie could hear the sarcasm as he said it, even through the grumbling alien tongue that he somehow understood effortlessly.

He thought about it, he hadn’t really questioned his innate ability to hear them speak in an unknown tongue and still be capable of understanding them.

He was about to ask about it when Mack froze and held out a hand, the other disappearing into his clean overcoat as if he was reaching for a holstered weapon. From up ahead in the alley voices seemed to wend their way through the dark.

A subtle grumble, a short chirp. Each imbued with meaning due to the strange phenomenon that was taking place inside his head.

Mack crouched low and to the side of the alley, whoever was making the noise was up and around the corner. Out of sight and out of mind, at least for the moment. But it sounded like they were coming closer.

As they crouched behind the cover of a stack of moldering crates, the sound of clopping footsteps neared their position. The low whistling seemed to echo from the walls as the unseen figure closed in when there was a low fizzing crackle like static.

“Goree, anything?” A voice asked over the static.

The clopping stopped just short of their position. The figure answered, their voice a grumbling cough that sounded like dry leaves rustling. “I ain’t seen shit.”

The first voice again. “Well, keep your orbs open, Ooounoo is already in a murderous mood. If we fuck up and then that creature gets by us then we won’t have to worry about getting injured by the savage because she will kill us herself.”

Paulie saw Mack peek out around the corner as the goon answered gruffly. “Yea, yea. I got it.”

Footsteps again, this time receding away from their hiding spot. Mack grunted and then whispered, “Stay in cover. I’m going to clear a path.”

Paulie was about to ask the miriam what He meant by that when the detective drew a short stick from the belt at their waist. He telescoped it out with a quick flinging motion and then stepped out into the open with a quick sideways motion. Paulie couldn't just sit there blindly though and stood to watch.

Mack seemed to flick a switch on the wand as he ducked in behind the alien gangster, the miniature giraffe looking alien seemed to hear him though because right before the baton made contact with the back of their head they ducked out of the way causing the centauroid detective to yell and stumble.

As the detective caught themselves with their forward lags, a flash of movement higher up the wall of a nearby building drew Paulie’s attention. It was another person, a shadowy figure that crept along what looked to be a standard metal fire escape. Something glinted in the pale light of the gas giant above and he realised that the figure was armed and lining up for a shot on Mack as the detective stood in the open with no cover.

Paulie reacted before he was even aware of it, leaping from cover like a missile towards the exposed officer and wrapping the man in a protective bear hug. Paulie was so much more massive than the detective that he might as well have been scooping up a young child. The pair of them slamming to cover on the far side of the alley as a series of bright laser lines connected to the ground where he had been only a moment before. The concrete cracked with a splitting series of cracks as microdroplets of moisture trapped in it were instantly flashed to steam. A shower of stone shrapnel made the first criminal yell and shield their face.

Paulie had an opening, slim, but there nonetheless.

“What in the name of..” Mack started to say, muffled as he was by Paulie’s arms. But he just dropped the man and leapt across the alley with superhuman speed. The lower gravity of the planet working to increase the apparent strength of his muscles ten-fold.

He still carried his inertia however, and he grunted as he slammed into the bottom of the fire escape with enough force to bend the metal guard railing. Shaking off the pain of a fresh bruise, he lined up and jumped upwards with all of his strength.

The nutricubes, rest and a fresh outlook on life had done much to restore his spirit, and his strength. As a result, Paulie soared nearly three meters straight up before he caught the bottom of the third story landing and used his momentum to propel himself up to the shooter’s position.

The figure was revealed to be one of the pink skinned hairless otter-like aliens, and they opened their mouth in a screech of horrified surprise as Paulie’s enraged features materialised only centimeters from their own.

He made a point of grabbing the alien by the lapel and then unceremoniously dragged them kicking and screaming over the edge of the railing to fall the six meters to the ground. Paulie watched them fall as if in slow motion, the lower gravity of the world proving much less impactful than he would have otherwise been used to.

Still, the thug impacted the ground hard enough that their neck snapped audibly, their body jerking in a mindless spasm as they gurgled and then lay still.

“You murdering savage!” The other goon growled loudly as they recovered from their earlier shock, their own weapon rising up to point at Paulie.

He had no time, even if he pushed off as hard as he could there was no way he would be able to avoid a barrage from the strange creature. He tensed, his muscles demanding he flee despite his brain telling him there was no point in it.

The small wooly alien’s head snapped back as what was left of their skull caved in on itself, a ghostly blue contrail sizzling in the air almost like electricity as a crack that came from high and to his left split the night air like a knife. The body jerked twice as it slumped bonelessly to the ground amid a pool of greenish gore. Paulie flinched at the noise and sound of the corpse flopping to the pavement. Looking around he saw nothing at first, and then a shimmer on one of the rooftops.

As he stared the darkness seemed to unravel, a six armed figure stepping from the shadows carrying some manner of short barreled blocky weapon that glinted copper in the light. It was Jakiikii, the termaxxi woman gave him a nod and a wave before slinging the weapon over the back of her dark bodysuit.

He watched in fascination as she swung over the edge of the blocky wall and descended down the sheer face with the grace of a mountain goat. Her six arms combined with her dexterous tri-cloven hooves made short work of the descent, handholds and gaps in the facade acting as sure footing to her as if they had been stairs to him.

Paulie judged the distance to the ground and then smiled, letting go of the railing he pushed out slightly as he turned mid air. His mind was screaming at him that he was about to break every bone in his body. As he slowly fell the six meters to the alley he grinned like a madman, he really did feel like some sort of superhuman in this low gravity. Paulie hit the ground hard, a little harder than he had expected too due to his inertia. But as he absorbed the force of the impact with his dense leg muscles he stood to see Jakiikii and Mack staring at him as if they had just witnessed something impossible.

He cracked his knuckles loudly as he stepped towards them. “Alright, that was exciting. Can we go now?”

Jakiikii’s orange eyes seemed to dim briefly as she blinked semi-transparent eyelids and then planted one of her long primary arms on her flared hip. “Yeah Mack, what are we waiting for? The human to toss another few criminals off the top of a building to their deaths?” She said it in what he might have imagined was a semi-mocking manner, but he thought he heard an edge of respect or awe in her tone as two of the alien woman’s eyes flicked towards him again.

Mack jerked and then looked at her, he nodded and then motioned to Paulie with another glance at the two dead goons. He likely would have liked to have taken them alive, law enforcement and all that. But Paulie’s first reaction had been to neutralise the threat to his only friends, not the capture of potential information sources. He cursed himself, he would need to be more mindful in the future. It seemed that many of the beings that lived on this world were somewhat more fragile than his own terran stock.

Mack made a gesture that bade him to follow and he looked over to thank Jakiikii and was startled to see she was once more nowhere to be seen. He gave a suspicious glance around the alley and muttered to himself. “Damn, that’s creepy. This must be how commissioner Gordon feels all the time.”

Mack led him through the rest of the alley without any more incidents, The walk to the rear of a nearby building giving him time to think over the events that had only just transpired. Was he some sort of hero? Or maybe a savage like they were originally thought to be? What made him any different from the other teeming hordes of life that seemed to populate the galaxy just beyond the sight of man?

He rubbed his head and turned to look at Mack, the shorter alien still glancing at him with a look that spoke of either surprise or mild fear. Paulie couldn’t really tell which.

He stalked along behind the detective in silence though, his eyes roving over their darkened surroundings. But it wasn’t as truly dark as one might have expected in the absence of their sun. No, he existed in a world of perpetual twilight. The reflected light of the sun scattering from the bright face of the orbiting gas giant above. He gestured to it as they crept through the alley, the barest sliver of the giant’s banded surface just peeking through the gaps in the buildings that pressed close on either side.

“What do you guy’s call that thing?” He asked, tapping the miriam’s shoulder to get his attention.

Mack glanced around for a moment before realising what he was talking about. “Hmm, what? Oh. The planet? It’s called Trellan IX. This is the Trellan system, this moon is called Gike. Does that answer all of your questions?” The man spoke, a measure of frustration evident in his voice.

Indeed as he stumbled slightly over a piece of loose garbage he swore loudly. “Can’t see a fucking thing in here.”

Paulie cocked his head at that. Sure it was dark, but not so dark that he couldn't still make out the dim shapes of things around them. “What, you can’t see?”

Mack looked at him, his large grey eyes seemingly trying to adjust to the dimness. “What, don’t tell me you can see in this like Jakiikii can.”

Paulie shrugged, “I have no idea how well she can see out here. But to me I can make out the general layout, though it is far more dim that I would consider comfortable.”

The alien snorted, a sound like crushing grapes. “Figures. Apocalypsers.” He muttered quietly enough that Paulie was sure the man had not meant for him to hear it.

They skirted the darkness for another block, the alley seemed to go on for kilometers, but eventually there was a break. A point where the dark corridor intersected with the main roadway. A long finger of light extended from the concourse towards them welcomingly. The strangely orange glow reminiscent of midday.

Mack tapped the small device he wore on his wrist. “Jakiikii, is it clear?”

Her voice trickled through the device back to them. “As clear as a yelkat in heat.” She responded.

Mack seemed to sneer in mild disgust at the remark but let it go. “Okay, we are coming out into the open. Keep your termaxxi eyesight sharp.”

“Sharper than a nokk’s horns.” Was the quick reply.

Mack glanced at him and then gave him a slap on the shoulder. “Okay, on the third count, run for the alley. Try not to hurt anyone though.” Paulie nodded and the man counted down slowly.

As he reached the third and final utterance, Paulie jumped into action. He lowered his shoulders and powered forwards, shooting for a large gap in the diminished crowds. There were noticeably fewer aliens milling about the streets now that dusk had fallen, but there were still enough to be a potential hazard should he lose his footing.

But his aim was true and like an arrow loosed from a bow he shot the gap in moments, skidding to a halt on the far side as he desperately tried to keep from falling to the ground in an ungainly heap. He managed to stick the landing though, dusting himself off and turning around to see Mack hurrying his way at a much more sedate pace.

The man reached his side with a slight wheeze and leaned his neck down as if doubling over for breath. The long quills that ran down the back of his long neck chattered together like dry twigs in a windstorm as the miriam man straightened again.

“Holy Nastrica, you can move like the winds of Trellen IX when you want to.” Mack breathed out heavily.

Paulie shrugged. “You said to go fast, so fast I went.”

Mack nodded and rolled his large grey eyes. The pupils slowly dilating as they tried to readjust to the dark. “Follow, quickly.” Was all he said before rushing towards one of the nearby buildings.

Making his way up alongside the shorter alien, he looked up towards the top of the structure. It had to be nearly twelve stories tall. One of the tallest buildings he had seen so far.

“What is this place?” He asked the pale skinned man.

Mack’s quills moved slightly as their tiny mouth cracked into a small grin, revealing surprisingly sharp looking teeth. “This? This.. is home.”