John’s SciFi Space Short Story

Possessed

Part 2

Cain gaped with horror as he watched blood ooze from each person’s eyes, ears, and nostrils before they collapsed and spasmed in death. The illumination quenched from his fingers as he himself slumped into his seat again.

A wasteland of the dead flowed around him. What was happening? He felt schizophrenic. At one instant, he was himself. Then someone… or something, took control of him until its deed was done and relinquished control to him. 

He suddenly realized everyone outside the stadium had seen the horror and the person behind it. He was a marked man. Filled with panic, he rushed from the arena back to his apartment to hide. But as he approached it, an overwhelming urge came over him to divert his flight to the warehouse where he worked. The detour made no sense to him, but the same controlling change as experienced at the stadium re-occurred, and rendering him powerless to resist.

He entered a deserted warehouse when he arrived. They’re probably dead. He headed for the porthole window in the space station hull and stared from it. The realization hit him like a shuttle. “I am possessed,” he whispered. Nothing inside him or his own reasoning refuted his claim. Another sensation welled within him — a malevolent satisfaction, as if the recent deeds were a harbinger and a limbering exercise for future events.

***

Gabriel Archel sat lounging on the deck chair in the city of Eden. She lived in a condo, and she now overlooked the vast parklands provided by the view from her balcony. The balmy weather made her thirsty, and she sipped on the refreshing carbonated lemon drink she held. Her neural implant gave a mental ping, notifying her of an incoming message. Accessing the package, she reviewed the contents with growing consternation. An anomalous mass murder panned out on the space station before her eyes, a slaughter only one entity could unleash.

A second communication pinged moments later, ordering her to investigate sent from The Council, the organization that hired her, as one of the seven, for her talents in maintaining law and order between the realms of reality throughout the universe. She sighed. Another vacation cut short by the demands of her work. After gulping the last of her drink, she rose from her relaxation and went inside.

With a flick of her mental signals, she transferred the messages to her view screen for further interrogation. She started with the massage from The Council.

“News of this incident just arrived through the aether. It is disturbing as a valuable cargo was in the proceeds of transfer to a top security facility for terminal incarceration. You must investigate if this consignment is involved and, if so, re-acquire it. We await your report.”

Gabriel frowned. What’s with the cryptic message? They aren’t usually this vague. She gave a mental shrug and opened the first transmission. It included a link, which she clicked. It brought up a holographic recording of a football game readying to begin in a packed sports stadium. Blue light flashed throughout the arena, its sudden manifestation making her jump. The noise silenced, and the crowd fell to the ground, leaving just one man standing. When she zoomed in, she saw him in shock, terrorized by his deed. He rushed away a few moments later and disappeared.

She had seen this genocidal horror only once, and the memory sent shivers through her. They should have the entire damned imprisoned. How could one have escaped? She wouldn’t find the answer standing in her condo.

To be continued…