Short Stories for Tall People (And All People)

No Title

I have not titled this yet. It was something I was working on for Booktober that I never finished but have now. Thanks to BLTS2004 for the help. :) Please note some graphic language is used.

"Son of a b----!" I roared to the darkened sky. Frustrated, I grabbed the telecom and waited for the operator to speak. I'll try one more time.

A mechanical voice came on the line, "If you would like to place a call, please enter the planetary code followed by the pound sign."

"6 8 3 2 1. Earth. Call Earth," I mumbled under my breath as I punched in the code.

"Please enter your 10 digit credit number for payment. Cost to call "Earth" is 30 credits."

Damn leeches. Thirty hard-earned credits to call a planet in the same galaxy? I had already spent over 200 credits on the previous calls! I sighed and entered my credit number again, hoping this time I would be connected.

"Thank you. Please dial the number of the party you would like to reach."

Yes! Now we are getting somewhere. I entered in Malik's number quickly. That a**hole better be there.

"We are sorry but your call can not be completed as dialed. Our servers are currently busy. Estimated wait time: 5 galaxy hours ," droned the mechanical voice through the small speaker.

"WHAT! That equates to THREE Earth days! I hate this planet!" I shouted, slamming the telecom back in its holder. A sharp pain stabbed through my hand.

S**t. In my anger, I managed to break the telecom when I had slammed it down and now my hand was bleeding. "F**k, f**k, f***ity-f**k." I turned from the telecom system and looked at my surroundings. I saw no medical dispensary in the immediate vicinity and sighed heavily.

This is ridiculous. This mission was ridiculous. I should never have let Malik talk me into taking this job. I don't need to get back into missionary work. I don't need to forget about Drusilla. I should have stayed at home in my darkened library, enjoying my solitude. And alcohol. Lots of alcohol.

Maybe if I had, I wouldn't be stuck on this awful planet filled with automatons. No living being called this planet home. Why would they? It was uninhabitable. Too far from the sun to get much heat. No soil to farm and grow produce or any other vegetation. It didn't even have a name. The Galactic Alliance turned it into a way station. Way Station 459X to be exact. And I was stuck here for the next three days. More if I was unable to fix the telecom I had broken or at least make the trek to the next one.

No use staying here. I started the walk back to my disabled ship, Eleutheria. My anger boiled to the surface as I remembered the large asteroid I almost crashed into, narrowly managing to avoid at the last second. I would have to check my auto pilot and sensor readings. I should never have come within 1 mile of that asteroid. My equipment had failed somewhere. I narrowed my eyes as I pondered the thought of subterfuge. I had enemies. Drusilla was one that came immediately to mind. That b***h.

Fury bubbled through my veins as I reached my ship. Thankfully Eleutheria's computer automatically backed up all files and records from the mainframe. I pulled out the small disk from the control panel.

Now to see what happened to Eleutheria. I slid the tiny piece of plastic into a small electronic device I had pulled from my pocket. The device was small in size, fitting into the palm of my hand. Helpful for reading encrypted files, like my backup drive. Unfortunately it had no way of actually communicating. I cursed the telecom back in the robotic town and my own broken telecom and communication devices while waiting for the files to be decrypted and load.

A message flashed on to the small screen: ERROR! NO FILES FOUND.

"What the hell do you mean, 'No Files Found?'" I groused and took the disk out and examined it. Looking closely, I realized that at first glance, it looked the same as the one I used, but the special marking I had put in the corner to identify my equipment was not there. "F**K!"

Someone had changed the disks. This was a useless piece of plastic I was holding. I knew right then someone had sabotaged Eleutheria. Someone dared tamper with MY ship? But who? Only Malik knew I was going on this mission. I hadn't told anyone. I had no one who to tell. My mind raced. Would Malik have set me up? We'd been friends for years; partners in business. What would be the gain? Money was not a problem for either of us. I was worth more to him alive than dead. Then who? And how?

Once again, white hot anger surged through me, and I lashed out with my foot, kicking my ruined ship. Not satisfied, I turned back towards the direction of the town. I needed to get out of this place.

I took a deep breath and let out my anger upon the deserted landscape around me. Who was there to hear me anyway?

"I NEED TO TALK TO A HUMAN! STUPID ROBOTIC WASTELAND!"

"Am I human enough for you, dumba**?" drolled a lilting, feminine voice from behind me.

Shocked, I spun to face the woman who had spoken. Maybe she could help me off this desolate planet. 'Or not,' I thought when I saw the large BNL-X40 she was pointing right towards my heart. I put my hands up in a placating gesture.

"Whoa. No need for violence, ma'am. Why don't you give me that electrogun and I'll make sure we get help. You look like you could use a man's help," I said in my best soothing tone.

"F**k you!" the woman spat back.

I sighed inwardly. Fine, she wanted to be difficult? My hand shot to my right side where my own BNL-X40 rested in its special holster. Except my hand grasped air instead of the butt of the weapon. S**t! I had taken my holster off before going to the telecom in the town. I closed my eyes in disgust at my own arrogance and stupidity as I heard the woman fire her weapon at me.

"D**n" I thought just before the electric volts hit my chest. Pain lanced through me. She had missed my heart by mere inches. The center of my chest felt like it was on fire as a blazing heat spread across it. The pain brought me to my knees, and I swayed for a moment. While it had hurt like hell, I was surprised to realize the shot had not killed me and had been, in fact, a much lesser electrical charge than I anticipated. I forced myself to bring my gaze to the woman who had shot me. Her long, black hair cascaded down her back, and she looked triumphant.

Her chest rose rapidly as she seemed to fight for more air. Staring into her golden eyes for what seemed like hours, but was only seconds, I watched her expression flit between fear, hatred, and finally determination as her gaze never left mine. Not able to stand the piercing gaze boring into my own, I squeezed my eyes shut, as more pain coursed through me. I could feel the burn where the electricity had entered my body.

Trying to regain control, still on my knees, my thoughts were stilted. I didn't recognize my attacker. I knew I would not have forgotten this woman with that black hair and those golden eyes. There was silence for only another moment before I heard the BNL-X40 go off again. My eyes shot open as the second shot of electricity hit me, causing me to jerk.

A mangled, "Son of a b----," shot from my mouth, almost impossible to understand as I fell to the side, hitting my head on the side of Eleutheria. Darkness surrounded me, the woman's final words burning into my memory.

"You should never have messed with my family, Olen."