Prison Mountain by Scott Hilkene
There is something to say for people from another time and assumptions made about what you understand and what you do not. I clearly had no experience with thought access computer programs and alarms that buzzed you instead of buzzing the air. I woke with a start as all my body vibrated in anger. After several seconds, I remembered to say, “Alarm off.”
There was a shower, but again, it was futuristic to the point of ridiculousness. There were no knobs and I had to tell the shower what temperature the water should be.
Taking a long walk through the ship, I discovered the different places that make the ship work. The only places I could not enter were engineering and security. The door to security looked like it never was opened, but the engine room that was lively and bustling was situated behind another invisible force field. Wanting to explore the entirety of the craft so I could understand its workings, I tried the control panel. A quick trip into the ships computer and I found out that a suit was required to enter because of radiation exposure. But the computer also shared the fact I did not have clearance from the Captain to enter. Having no idea where he was except in his room sleeping off the alcohol from last night, I asked and was told his whereabouts was presently unknown. That was odd since the computer knew everything else.
The corridor ahead twisted and turned leading up to a short corridor and a platform with a guard rail. Beyond was a lower level and an opening to outside where a breeze came from. The end of the platform was lined with large turrets that looked moveable. Heading to the right and down a set of metal stairs, I passed turrets at the force field near the opening. The high black mountain in the distance surrounded by the sea and dark blue sky looked malignant. The sun rising made the black mountain look like a fungal growth, compared to the shimmering ocean. With the wind against my face and my hand supporting me against the shield, I deeply inhaled the fresh air and smelled a trace of energy in the air from a thunderstorm, but no storm was coming. The black mountain stained the view of the beautiful Earth and anger rose up in me mixing generously with my guilt, creating a concoction of blistering rage that pushed me to the edge again, but like before, it subsided quickly and artificially.
A small change in the light made me turn to see the spirit float towards me. I nodded hello, not able to manage speech at the moment. Looking back out, there was nothing else I wanted more than to erase the past, to start over again and give myself another chance to fight harder, be stronger, and make a difference that could have saved the people I could not that last night. I remembered the way she took me and used me against my will, tricked me into thinking that she would leave the Earth in peace if I cooperated. My rage boiled again, and I felt like this emotional roller coaster was going to taking me to the edge of my mind and lead me to a watery depth below.
Almost as though she knew my thoughts, and probably did, she put a cold, dry ghostly hand on my shoulder and I immediately felt a little relief at her comfort. It was strange, but the comfort she gave allowed me to think more objectively for a moment. Maybe this never would have entered my mind otherwise, but was the reality that so many people died because I gave in, or did I really save fifteen-hundred people in the end?
A second later, she sharply removed her touch and I felt cold rage, nothing like ever before. The spirit stared at me, her expression of confusion and admonishment, until her gaze shifted quickly from me to the black mountain behind me.
Precisely as I turned, black dust and shards rose up into a cloud of black smoke rising toward space. It was slow motion, not unlike an old atom bomb test video and chills scoured my back. The explosion was silent and created no light. A massive hole in the image before me erased from the horizon.
“Wait!”
She flew with purpose through the force field towards the black mass. I felt angry again, and wish she had not left. Then, sudden as another bomb, the shock wave hit the ship, sounding like the crackle of approaching thunder at first, then a sharp thunderous blast that shook the floor and knocked me off balance. I fell sideways into a large metal crate and slammed my head in the process.
A few seconds of dizziness and I was back at the force field, staring out to the black mass of cloud and debris ramming the ship in what sounded like loud hail hitting a metal awning. It was a tornado of destruction coming at us relentlessly.
“What the hell is that?”
Anton ran up next to me and shared my vantage point before asking again, “What happened?”
“The mountain, it exploded.”
“Oh no! Come on! Let's go.”
“Where?”
“We have to find her.”
“She? She went out there.”
“Damn! Damn! Shit!” he yelled through gnashed teeth, acting out his frustration by pacing and pounding his fists through the air.
“What is the big deal, she is a ghost, right?”
“That's not it Janus! There is only one thing that would make her risk getting anywhere near that mountain if it exploded.”
“Well?”
“Have you seen the Captain?”
“No.”
The idea the Captain would risk going near that mountain when I was not on it was beyond ludicrous. He knew the danger of waking her, did I not say enough, did he not know enough. Thoughts raced through me, but ended at a realization that sent chills up my spine.
“Why would he go near the mountain? He knows it is dangerous.”
“Did you tell us everything you know? Did you?”
My hands were already covering my face, but my own guilt raged to the surface again and I pulled at my hair.
“This is insane. She's immortal.”
“Why the hell did you keep that to yourself?”
“What importance is it? She ruined everything. You weren't there, you couldn't know. She was never there in the beginning. It was only the soul catchers that gave us hell on earth.”
Then, through the dark wind that pummeled the ship's invisible shield, the ghost came and carried something silvery and opaque. It was another spirit unconscious itself, but a sobering and familiar apparition. As they passed us we hung our heads, neither of us making the slightest move because the truth was obvious. My fists were the only feeling I had, shaking and drawing blood from my palms with my nails.
~
There was a shower, but again, it was futuristic to the point of ridiculousness. There were no knobs and I had to tell the shower what temperature the water should be.
Taking a long walk through the ship, I discovered the different places that make the ship work. The only places I could not enter were engineering and security. The door to security looked like it never was opened, but the engine room that was lively and bustling was situated behind another invisible force field. Wanting to explore the entirety of the craft so I could understand its workings, I tried the control panel. A quick trip into the ships computer and I found out that a suit was required to enter because of radiation exposure. But the computer also shared the fact I did not have clearance from the Captain to enter. Having no idea where he was except in his room sleeping off the alcohol from last night, I asked and was told his whereabouts was presently unknown. That was odd since the computer knew everything else.
The corridor ahead twisted and turned leading up to a short corridor and a platform with a guard rail. Beyond was a lower level and an opening to outside where a breeze came from. The end of the platform was lined with large turrets that looked moveable. Heading to the right and down a set of metal stairs, I passed turrets at the force field near the opening. The high black mountain in the distance surrounded by the sea and dark blue sky looked malignant. The sun rising made the black mountain look like a fungal growth, compared to the shimmering ocean. With the wind against my face and my hand supporting me against the shield, I deeply inhaled the fresh air and smelled a trace of energy in the air from a thunderstorm, but no storm was coming. The black mountain stained the view of the beautiful Earth and anger rose up in me mixing generously with my guilt, creating a concoction of blistering rage that pushed me to the edge again, but like before, it subsided quickly and artificially.
A small change in the light made me turn to see the spirit float towards me. I nodded hello, not able to manage speech at the moment. Looking back out, there was nothing else I wanted more than to erase the past, to start over again and give myself another chance to fight harder, be stronger, and make a difference that could have saved the people I could not that last night. I remembered the way she took me and used me against my will, tricked me into thinking that she would leave the Earth in peace if I cooperated. My rage boiled again, and I felt like this emotional roller coaster was going to taking me to the edge of my mind and lead me to a watery depth below.
Almost as though she knew my thoughts, and probably did, she put a cold, dry ghostly hand on my shoulder and I immediately felt a little relief at her comfort. It was strange, but the comfort she gave allowed me to think more objectively for a moment. Maybe this never would have entered my mind otherwise, but was the reality that so many people died because I gave in, or did I really save fifteen-hundred people in the end?
A second later, she sharply removed her touch and I felt cold rage, nothing like ever before. The spirit stared at me, her expression of confusion and admonishment, until her gaze shifted quickly from me to the black mountain behind me.
Precisely as I turned, black dust and shards rose up into a cloud of black smoke rising toward space. It was slow motion, not unlike an old atom bomb test video and chills scoured my back. The explosion was silent and created no light. A massive hole in the image before me erased from the horizon.
“Wait!”
She flew with purpose through the force field towards the black mass. I felt angry again, and wish she had not left. Then, sudden as another bomb, the shock wave hit the ship, sounding like the crackle of approaching thunder at first, then a sharp thunderous blast that shook the floor and knocked me off balance. I fell sideways into a large metal crate and slammed my head in the process.
A few seconds of dizziness and I was back at the force field, staring out to the black mass of cloud and debris ramming the ship in what sounded like loud hail hitting a metal awning. It was a tornado of destruction coming at us relentlessly.
“What the hell is that?”
Anton ran up next to me and shared my vantage point before asking again, “What happened?”
“The mountain, it exploded.”
“Oh no! Come on! Let's go.”
“Where?”
“We have to find her.”
“She? She went out there.”
“Damn! Damn! Shit!” he yelled through gnashed teeth, acting out his frustration by pacing and pounding his fists through the air.
“What is the big deal, she is a ghost, right?”
“That's not it Janus! There is only one thing that would make her risk getting anywhere near that mountain if it exploded.”
“Well?”
“Have you seen the Captain?”
“No.”
The idea the Captain would risk going near that mountain when I was not on it was beyond ludicrous. He knew the danger of waking her, did I not say enough, did he not know enough. Thoughts raced through me, but ended at a realization that sent chills up my spine.
“Why would he go near the mountain? He knows it is dangerous.”
“Did you tell us everything you know? Did you?”
My hands were already covering my face, but my own guilt raged to the surface again and I pulled at my hair.
“This is insane. She's immortal.”
“Why the hell did you keep that to yourself?”
“What importance is it? She ruined everything. You weren't there, you couldn't know. She was never there in the beginning. It was only the soul catchers that gave us hell on earth.”
Then, through the dark wind that pummeled the ship's invisible shield, the ghost came and carried something silvery and opaque. It was another spirit unconscious itself, but a sobering and familiar apparition. As they passed us we hung our heads, neither of us making the slightest move because the truth was obvious. My fists were the only feeling I had, shaking and drawing blood from my palms with my nails.
~