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

Part 9 -Caught Red Handed-

Pounding feet, hooves and boots sounded as Paulie smiled wide and crouched. He waited until the sounds were almost upon him, the first wide eyes of the hired thugs skidding to a halt as they raised strange looking devices up and towards him. He didn’t give them the chance to fire though as he straightened with all the force he could muster in the lowered gravity of the alien world while throwing his fists up towards the ceiling in a classic superman pose.

He couldn't help but loose a shout of, “Up, up and away!” as he punched through the thin roof of the structure and into some manner of attic space where he landed heavily. The roof shuddered under his weight, but held. The action had hurt a little, but compared to getting shot to death it was a pain he could live with.

Ignoring the red blood that now seeped from his knuckles, Paulie ran along the more reinforced looking parts of the subroof till he noticed a light shining from a vent. He grabbed the thin metal and heaved, the sound of shearing metal announcing the failure of the vent’s physical structure. He cast the warped metal grating aside and clambered up through the narrow opening and up onto the roof proper of the low structure without a backwards glance.

Now outside of the throngs he took a moment to look up towards the distant sky and gasped audibly. The sight that met his eyes was like unto that from some flowery science fiction novel or movie. The sky was a bright clear teal, the slight greenish tint doing little to mask the huge and slightly shimmering mass of the gas giant that the planet seemed to be in orbit of. The planet was huge, the bright yellow and tan bands that covered its surface reminding him of images of Jupiter. Though the constantly flickering flashes of titanic lightning bolts and flaring pink and green aurora that danced all across its expansive surface did much to shatter that illusion.

That would make the world he was on a moon, or at the very least a worldlet. That would explain the much lower gravity, the huge titan of the gas giant above would have served to both shield the planet from cosmic debris as well as from the stinging and deadly cosmic radiation of deep space. Its magnetic field was likely much more powerful than anything the weak little moon could have produced on its own.

At least he assumed as such, his mind remembering facts from half remembered science classes in high school. He shook his head, blinking his eyes as he located the source of the sky’s light. There, so distant that it appeared as a bright point a little smaller than the sun in Earth’s sky, was the system’s star. It was slightly reddish in color, the light it emitted casting an orange pallor over everything and making his eyes think it was nearing dusk even as the star shone nearly directly overhead.

It was so off putting that he blanched, the stimulation too great for him as he retched and fell to his knees on the grainy surface of the roof. It was too much, far too much too quickly as he heaved from the stress of it. Shivering, he felt a chill shock through him and forced himself back to his feet through sheer force of will. If he let himself succumb now then he might as well ask his pursuers to finish him off.

“Screw you, and screw your sun.” Paulie muttered angrily as he searched for an easy way off the surface of the roof. As he looked across the roadway he gauged the gap and thought about the chances of making it across to the other roof, it looked way too far. He was about to try climbing down when a loud clatter made him turn around. His eyes opened wide as what looked like a giant armoured rat with sharp quills jutting from its shoulders and upper back poked its head out through the hole in the roof and opened its mouth in a high pitched squeak.

“I see them! Up here, on the roof!” It screeched as it struggled to fit through the gap, its flabby body catching on the sides of the narrow hole he had made.

Another voice from under it shouted, the sound muffled by the alien currently forcing its way up onto the roof. “You do?! Get it.. kill it before it decides to run or Ooonuoo will have out hides to pin on her wall!”

Paulie tensed and was forced to dive to the side as another powerful blast of light flashed towards him. He hissed in pain as it narrowly missed his knee, the fabric of his slacks smoking heavily from the heat of it.

Another shriek. “Don’t let it get away again!”

Paulie got away again.

With a yell of supreme effort he dashed off the edge of the roof, jumping for the other side of the street. It was lucky that the opposite building was a little lower than the one he had jumped from, for even in the planet’s lower gravity he was still sore and injured. On his best day the jump may have been child’s play, but in his weakened and near half-starved state he barely cleared the gap.

He hit the face of the other roof hard enough to crack the ceramic tiles and fell into an ungainly heap as he skidded a further three meters to the far side of the structure, bruised and bleeding from numerous cuts and scrapes. He groaned and pushed himself to his feet just as another white-hot bolt of pain slapped him in the thigh.

“Augh! Stop fucking shooting me, assholes!” He shouted across the gap even as he scrambled to his feet and flipped them the bird.

He didn’t stick around to hear their reply as another white hot bolt of something whizzed past his ear and singed his hair, instead he judged the distance and hopped off the opposite side of the roof into what looked like a relatively clear alley between the structures.

Almost immediately the atmosphere changed. Gone were the colorful throngs of the bustling street, the smells and sounds and culture all having been replaced by a pervading damp dimness. The orange of the sky was obscured, only the little light that filtered down between the buildings brought any semblance of life to the seemingly barren space. The sickly orange pallor of the light making the scene even more eerie than it otherwise might have been.

He tensed, it wasn't exactly quiet. Not really. But the sounds of the distant bustle were strangely muted. Like the distant wind through the trees of a deserted forest.

All at once he felt eyes upon him, the short hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. He whirled, his light brown eyes searching, pupils dilating as they strained to pierce that all pervading gloom. But he saw nothing.

No, not nothing exactly.

Humanity’s eyes had been honed by a hundred thousand years of living in steaming jungles, windy savannahs and dense forests to pick out even the slightest out of place movements. Small subtle changes in the environment that were not even detectable consciously by most. It was one of these strange, almost shimmering, patches that caught his eye. The out of place haze making him freeze in place.

There! In the darkness near to the underside of some sort of stairwell was a single orange eye suspended in the middle of that distortion that seemed to blink closed in an instant as he saw it. The shimmer was stronger there and he took a step back, flicking his eyes away for only a moment to keep from stumbling. When he looked back he stopped dead again, the shimmer was gone. Where the hell had it gone?

He whirled around, eyes scanning frantically for whatever it had been. Were there some manner of superpredators in these darkened alleys where others seemed to avoid? Was he in imminent danger of being ripped limb from limb?

He started to run, his heavy footfalls thundering in the echoing confines of the alley. His breathing came in ragged gasps, the image of that single blinking orange eye seared into his brain, the feeling that some dark unseen predator was shadowing him stirring the most intimate reaches of his lizard brain and blinding his mind in a fugue of panic.

He ran like that for another hundred meters or so before swinging in behind a large metal box. From the reek of it he assumed it was a dumpster, that or a septic tank. Peeking out from around the corner he took a minute to scan for the tell-tale shimmer of whatever had been observing him. But he saw nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary, as ordinary as his alien surroundings could be said to be. He stood slowly to his feet, wincing as the new burns he had gained smarted. He felt a trickle of something warm run down his side and swore as he saw that numerous small scabs and half healed blisters had broken open in his flight. The worst of them sticking to his soiled clothing like glue.

This was bad, if he didn’t find somewhere to clean himself up soon then he was likely to get many infected wounds. And without knowing where to go to get the proper medical attention he wasn’t sure how he would be able to take care of them. Maybe the aliens didn’t get ill, maybe they were all in danger of the germs he had undoubtedly exposed them to.

With thoughts of a potential plague on his mind, Paulie rounded the end of the alley and walked towards the crowded streets once again. It took him only a few seconds to lose himself in the crowd, most of the other people that surrounded him gave not so much as a glance to him. Though there were some, perhaps more perceptive than their neighbors, that noticed him and often gave him a wide berth. He must look a sight, stained with filth and bleeding from multiple wounds; the smell of smoke and scorched flesh emanated from him in waves. His breath coming in ragged gasps as his strength was nearly spent.

He paused, something catching his eye again. One of the aliens across the street was staring at him, their eyes piercing through the gloom of the shadows they stood in. As he turned his head in their direction they jerked as if in surprise, if they had thought themselves hidden then they had done a poor job of it. He checked his options, not many good places to run. And he was exhausted anyways. He had not eaten in what felt like days, his throat and mouth burned from thirst and his whole body was aching as he had never experienced before. He felt as if he had been run over by a herd of cattle and left to die in the desert.

There! In the gap between two structures he thought he caught a glimpse of something green. It almost looked like vegetation, if he could get out of the city he could use his greater maneuverability to his advantage. He arrowed for it as the alien he had spotted rose a device to their mouth and spoke into it. It seemed that he was in danger once more.

He was tired though, very tired. He stumbled through a double wide doorway and into some manner of indoor atrium or park, only the adrenaline that coursed fitfully through his veins still kept him moving. All around was a cacophony of life, vegetation and alien plants surrounded a series of red brick footpaths that seemed to mimic the controlled chaos of nature. Though there was simply not enough variety to feel like a true jungle. He had to remind himself that alien jungles were probably a lot different from those back on Earth. Either way, he felt more at home than he had in the last few days. Something about the small verdant atrium reminding him of the park where he had been taken.

He shivered at the thought, if he had just taken the stupid bus, none of this would have ever happened, it was like he was living through the most realistic nightmare he had ever had. The feelings, the pain, the fear. It was overwhelming, but giving up wasn’t an option. Not to him, not after everything he had already survived.

Paulie took a second to try and catch his breath, ducking out of sight amid the cover of the bushes near to the walkway. He had to assume that they wouldn't put dangerous plants right where one could touch them so he wasn't afraid. No, it seemed to have worked perfectly as he saw the alien who had been staring skid to a stop in the entrance only a second after the leaves had stopped moving.

The thing was an odd profusion of too many arms and legs atop a squat rounded torso, the effect made doubly strange by how human its face was. It was truly uncanny.

Paulie waited for another moment as the alien raised a device to their mouth and then rushed off. He relaxed for the first moment in the last hour or more. He was safe, for the moment anyways. Now all he had to do was…

Paulie never finished the thought. He heard the sound of booted footsteps and the unmistakable sound of many people rushing his way far too fast to avoid.

He hunched down farther into the undergrowth as a quartet of aliens rushed directly to his hiding position and raised what looked suspiciously like weapons towards his bush.

The lead one, a tall pinkish seal-looking creature with spider eyes and no visible mouth, stepped forwards and pointed to where Paulie cowered.

Paulie jerked as he saw orifices to the sides and base of the thing’s neck open as it spoke commandingly, “We know you are in there. Come out slowly with your manipulator appendages raised and away from any natural weapons. Any attempt to flee will be met with lethal force. Comply immediately!”

Paulie’s heart sank through the floor under their feet as he swallowed heavily. It seemed he only really had a single choice.