Star Singer

Nine

     Anna bit the inside of her cheek uneasily, wondering what was going on. After a few moment, Boy dropped his hand and Anna searched about for the source of the earlier sounds. The only thing she could really see as different, she realized with a sinking feeling of horror, was the sudden lack of a man named Oscar.

      "What did you do? What happened to him?" She demanded.

      But she already knew the answer.

     Maggot was wiping at his mouth and turned to face Anna. He smiled innocently at her and gave a simple, silly shrug under Boy's warning glare. Captain Kelly Heeler had straight up fainted, her had thumping down heavily on the metal floors. Anna looked up at Child who was stepping back and turning toward her, his eyes dark with hostility.

     "You will give control of the ship over to me before it's too late. We need to sort out your parasite problem." He commanded.

     "I can't do that and you know that," Anna protested, her eyes scanning the room again for Oscar, hoping he would just appear.

     "Then all of you will have to die."

     "Child, stop it. I know you're scared of another infestation, but Anna doesn't know what's going on either" Unwanted tried to calm the angry alien, but Child shook him away.

     "What exactly do you mean by parasite? What did you do to Oscar?" Anna demanded

     "Anna, please. I'll explain to you, but Child is the most capable when it comes to ship mechanics and technology."

    "What... I can't just give you control of everything! Why-why do you need it? What are you planning on doing?" Anna sputtered.

     She had just began to relax with these strange creatures before all of this happened. Now she was wondering if she had made a huge mistake by Connecting with them. How much of her memories had they seen in the short time they'd had to steal them from her? What dangers had she just opened humanity to? Was this a Pandora's box situation?

     Boy chuckled and patted Anna's head. He lowered himself down to her level, looking at her kindly.

     "It's okay to be scared. You don't understand what is happening, but we are trying to save your crew as well as our own people. It may already be too late, but at least you are still...human." He murmured.

     There was a sound and a loud hiss. Anna's neck snapped up to see Child attempting to mess with Singer's terminal.

     "Don't, you'll break her!" She yelped, moving toward Child with the intent of stopping him.

     He completely ignored her and Boy pulled Anna back.

     "Hey, hey, it's okay. It's alright. You need to understand the severity of this situation, okay? Do I have your permission to Connect with you again to show you?" He asked her gently.

     Anna still had her eyes glued to Child's back, but hearing the question she was forced to bring her focus back to Boy. Did she really want to risk another Connection? But if he was telling the truth, then she could figure out why Oscar had acted to oddly and these five were desperate for control. She gave a slow and hesitant nod and reached her hand out.

     Seeing her acceptance, Boy's shoulders and expression relax considerably. Her reached out to her with his tentacles and Anna felt the tell-tale shock of their Connection, though this time it was gentle and slow. And Rather than the shock running through her own body, she could feel it going from her skin to his and then bouncing back. An image emerged in her mind and she closed her eyes.

     As soon as she closed her eyes, she could hear the rumbling and barking language of the Salam. There were cries of outrage, screams for help, wails of betrayal. The world she had seen before was chaotic with strange robots patrolling the land and locking down on anything that moved. There were a group of Salam that moved as a pack, attacking anything that they came across, ripping Salam and robots apart with their bare hands.

     Anna watched, unable to make a sound of move, as a much smaller version of Boy stumbled out of a building, a tall, thin, and tentacle-less Green Salam chasing after him, drooling heavily, eyes black as night. Boy was begging for mercy, but the attacking Salam simple laughed and opened it's mouth, a razor sharp tongue flashing toward Boy and piecing the ground beside him as he rolled away.

     One of the robots was near by and seemed to sense the commotion. It lumbered over and swiftly apprehended the larger Salam. The robots looked down at the terrified Boy, the lights of it's eyes flashing as if contemplating trying to grab him as well, but the older Salam was struggling wildly and it moved away. 

     The imaged faded and then reemerged in a new location. The air was visible thanks to an immense heat. Several dozen Salam were gathered at the edge of a pit, shouting and growling as robot after robot approached the great pit. Each of the machines held a struggling Salam, all of them frothing at the mouth like rabid animals. One by one, they were thrown into the pit of lava as the sane Salam watched.

     And then Anna was back on her ship as Boy withdrew. He closely examined Anna's expression and when she was not immediately repulsed or fearful again, he smiled in relief. 

     "We call them parasites. We aren't sure exactly what they are, but they can take control of a sentient creature's mind and make them do terrible things. My own mother attacked my brother and I, killing him and nearly maiming myself. My father's body was never recovered. I'm certain he was devoured. Apparently these things can infect your people as well. They must have slipped in from deep space. We eradicated them from our planet, and will need to do the same here for your people before it's too late." 

     Anna remained silent for a long time. Unwanted and Maggot approached the pair and settled down on the floor, waiting to hear her decision. Meanwhile, Trash and Child were speaking in low, quick voices in their own language. Anna was able to pick up even more of their words after the newest Connection. 

     "....can't force...hostility between us and them..." "...do what I see fit...stop..."

        Anna clenched her hands into fists and shivered. She really did not have authorization to make such a decision. Kelly did, obviously , but once the woman woke, Anna could not see anyway to convince her to comply. 

     "What do you need me to do? I can't grant permissions, but I have access to everything except Comms." Anna compromised.

    There was a collective sigh from the three gathered and Boy beamed at Anna.

    "First of all, you need to wake everyone up," He told her.