sci fi story (295 hits)
Category: GeneralRating: -0.28 on 8 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by khoublaikhan (View user info) at 2006-11-15 21:04:10 EST
The Red Key
"Get that disk!" yelled Sarge. Eric kept running; he could see the door; it was only 20 feet away, and getting closer. He ran through the door, exiting the building; only to be greeted by five more guards. "Get me that disk!" Sarge yelled again. The guards snatched the disk from Eric and handed it to Sarge. "You can never stop my plan," said Sarge triumphantly, "..." the Sarge continued, but Eric was not listening, he was waiting for the right moment...here it was, the guards had left him an easy escape path, all he had to do was take it. Eric ran through the door, where the guards had formerly been standing. Just then, the Sarge and the guards has realized their mistake and chased after Eric. After running behind a hill, he dove into the nearest bush. The guards kicked up a cloud of sand as they ran past him.
As soon as the guards were out of sight, Eric let out a sigh, he made it back out of the fortress, but he didn't have the disk, so he crawled out of the bushes to another larger, thicker bush. He pressed a button on his new red watch, to reveal a flying, red, 2 seat motorcycle. The bush had been an illusion from a cloaking device built into the motorcycle. As Eric started the motorcycle and began flying away, he began to wonder how he had gotten himself into this mess...
It was a hot summer day two weeks ago; it was long and boring, like most other summer days. I remembered last summer; I had never been so tired. I used to call my friends and go places, but now I couldn't even move. I didn't understand why, I was going to bed earlier every night. I was also waking up later each morning. "Eric," began Mother in a gentle voice "you've been laying around all summer, why don't you go outside?"
"Ma, do I have to? I am just so tired."
"Eric!" Mother snapped, "Do you want to grow up to be a bum that just lies around all day?"
"But mom..."
"No buts'," Mother continued, "I called your friends, Seymour and Shelly. They said that they would be here in fifteen minutes, now get your bike and get ready.
I got on my bike, and rode to the corner of the street. The grass waved at me in the wind as I waited. I lived in a grassy area with some ranches nearby. Sometimes Seymour, Shelly, and I took the old gas powered buses to the city. Two people on bikes appeared on the horizon. One had long brown hair and glasses; the other had a short, thick head of hair and was trailing behind the other wearily.
"I'm so tired." I heard Seymour moan.
"Get over it!" yelled Shelly.
"Hi Eric!" they both said almost in unison.
"Hey guys," I replied, "how are you?"
"Tired," Seymour replied.
Shelly shrugged, "Yeah, I guess I haven't been as energetic as usual"
"Is that even possible?" I joked.
"Well, it is a bit odd; it just so happens that some scientists have recently began studying sleeping patterns. Maybe we should volunteer to be tested" said Seymour.
"Tested for what? Are we test dummies?" Shelly asked furiously.
"No, I heard about this on television. We just go there and sleep. We are volunteers, so we get nothing in return, but I am tired, so I would like to sleep, and my mom won't let me sleep if I get home, so a free bed sounds like a good idea." After I said that, everybody seemed to agree, so we rode our bikes over to the science institution, and talked to the lady at the front desk. She was glad to let us volunteer, and she led us to some nice beds. Seymour was a bit frightened of the large "brain wave monitor thing" and Shelly made a comment about cleanliness, but otherwise we were fine with taking a mid-day nap here.
I was walking, I didn't know to where or how I even got here, but I seemed to know where I was going. I walked up to a large machine taking up ample space in a room that was already as enormous as a public swimming pool. It was making an odd noise, and was shaking the entire room. A key formed, and fit perfectly in the machine, and as the key turned, I felt my senses rising, my perception was extending. I was becoming more aware of the world around me; it was as if I was waking out of a coma. "Wake up Eric, I want to leave." Shelly was shaking and speaking to me. "I'm awake, let's go." I replied wearily.
"Wait!" we heard somebody yell, "Hey, you teens, come here for a second." He was a scientist. He was wearing a lab coat, and had a disturbed look on his face. "Don't you want to see your results?" All three of us replied unanimously; we went into a separate room with many machines. Some were printing out some barcodes on paper; some were recording other things, but we were not sure of what they were doing. The scientist didn't give us much time for asking about the machines anyway. "Look," the scientist began, "you must be wondering why we are alone; not to mention why everybody has been tired lately." The scientist seemed to be talking so fast, what did this mean? Other people were also unusually tired? "I need your help, I am Gregory Lincoln, and we have reason to believe that there has been a sleep machine planted underground, not from the city." What is a sleep machine? Before I could ask, Seymour blurted out my question "A sleep machine? What is that? Does it make people tired?"
"Well what do you think it does?" said Shelly smiling.
"How can we help you?" I said.
"Eric, that's just like you, always in search of adventure." Shelly replied.
"As I said" continued Gregory, "We believe there is a sleep machine underground somewhere near us. We have monitored symptoms before that look almost identical to those of they people in this area and it led to the finding of a sleep machine. We are not yet sure of why the sleep machine is (or is not) there, but we have detectives working on the case.
"Oh, I see, so you search for random teenagers and ask them to help you" said Shelly intelligently.
"Well, we can't just send police or scientists into there, they might be recognized, and we could lose the element of surprise. Some teenagers sometimes hang out in the underground caves, so I'm sure that you could go unnoticed." A man in a lab coat knocked, then rushed in and whispered something into Gregory's ear. Gregory had a grim look on his face.
"It has been confirmed, there is, in fact a sleep machine, you won't have to scout it out, but I need you for another job."
That night, Mother caught me on the way to bed, "Now aren't you glad you went outside today?" "Yes Mother, you have no idea" I replied. In bed I had time to think about all that had happened today. Gregory had led us to a room, and handed each of us a watch with a built in four-way radio; connected to the other watches and to the main control at the Science Facility. We were also given a corresponding flying motorcycle. The scientists would call us in about a week, and then one of us would fly over a mine field into a rocky, sandy, desert-like area. I volunteered, it sounded like fun; at first.
I was excited, I was about to go on an adventure, plus I got to keep my motorcycle, but I didn't dare take it outside yet, I was a bit paranoid, I didn't want any "bad guys" to see me, it's not like they were hanging around here, I lived in the countryside, while the sleep machine was miles away, close to the city, but I didn't want to take any chances.
A week and a half later, I got a radio transmission from my watch, Gregory wanted us there right away, and it was almost my turn to help out on the mission. I was nervous, and after I left I also got excited, those two are not always a good combination. I got my directions, and radar under control, and I headed off to the mysterious fortress. Gregory had said that the "bad guys" wanted to make everybody tired to try and steal some things or get political power. It was something like that, but it didn't matter to me. I just wanted the adventure. Shelly seemed to be into it for the flying car, but who can blame her. Seymour just seemed to be following us around. Back at the lab, Shelly was talking to him through an earpiece, for he didn't want anybody overhearing all of his conversation with her. The earpiece also served as a device that helped block out some of the "sleep waves" that were making everybody tired. Seymour was doing something at the lab, it wasn't really mentioned to me what he was doing, but I'm sure it was important. Gregory told me that what I was looking for here was a disk; a red disk that was being hidden in the fortress. I was given a small, limited use camera to help me identify it; I could take a picture, and it would be sent immediately to Shelly and Gregory. Apparently Gregory had thought of everything, he even made sure that there wasn't a decoy, after all, why would there be? Nobody was expecting any "visitors".
As I arrived to the desert wasteland, Shelly told me of a back route I could take to get me straight to the disk, this was going to be a hit and run mission. I parked my red motorcycle, and activated a cloaking device. This device camouflaged the vehicle from anybody that might find him suspicious. The cloaking device took the form of a bush, like many of the other dry bushes that there were in this area. I had to put my motorcycle in the middle of many bushes though, for if it was in the middle of the trail, somebody might touch it, and find that the bush is not real.
I saw the back door, and he and Shelly decided that the best way in was to wait for somebody to come out, then run in behind him or her into the door. So I hid in a bush until a man in a uniform came out. I held the door open with a twig, and as soon as the man left, I ran in. That uniform looked odd, was he in some type of army? All of my thoughts escaped me as I found myself face to face with a security camera. It would only be moments before they would be looking for me now, I got nervous, but maybe if I acted natural, they wouldn't notice how out of place I was in this fortress. I took Shelly's directions, and passed the security room. As I passed, I saw the security guards asleep on the job. I had gone unnoticed, for now; those cameras must be on tape. The security guards had taken out their earpieces, and fallen asleep. Wait, I thought, I am too far away from the sleep machine for it to be affective here, and that must mean that there is more than one machine. I immediately reported this to Shelly, who then spoke to Gregory. Gregory confirmed the presence of other sleep machines in a minute. I kept walking until I found a room with a red disk on a desk. Shelly and Gregory verified that the disk on the desk was the one that we needed. I found it odd that I hadn't encountered anybody yet; maybe they were at some meeting. Before I could slip the disk into my pocket, another uniformed man walked up to me and asked who I was. After he saw what I was trying to conceal in my left hand, he grabbed me, and yelled into his army radio, "Sarge! We have a code one emergency!" I immediately broke free, and ran for my life, for all I knew, it could have been on the line. When I saw some men with knives, I found out that it probably was.
Shelly told me of an alternate exit, and I ran for it. I saw the man that was called "Sarge". I couldn't make out his physical features too well, because I had to keep running, but the scar down the left side of his face was enough to make my adrenaline levels spike. My adrenaline had already been working on me, I ran faster than I ever had "Get that disk!"...
Eric had failed. He couldn't even bear to talk to Shelly and Gregory.
"Turn back." A voice whispered into his ear.
"Shelly," he said.
"While all the guards were after you, we had an inside man follow that Sarge guy."
"A detective?" Eric asked curiously?
"No, Seymour"
"Seymour!" Eric yelled ecstatically, "So you mean that we haven't failed yet?"
"Nope," Said Shelly in a happy tone "but he needs some backup, so I need you to turn back and get the disk.
As he turned back, Eric asked, "But Sarge has the disk...right? Did you give him a decoy?"
"No!" yelled Shelly, "How could we do that? If we were already in there, we would've taken the disk. "Sarge put it back on his desk!" Eric and Shelly both began to laugh. Not only were all of the soldiers out looking for Eric, but Sarge put the disk right back on his desk!
"Where is Sarge?"
"He's in another room, if you get over there now, he won't be expecting anything." As Eric put the cloaking device back on his motorcycle, he noticed a rather thick bush near his that was not there before. "Seymour's motorcycle," Eric thought aloud. Eric ran toward the building, and as he did, Seymour approached him. "Did Shelly tell you the plan?" He asked. "Yes," I said, "Let's go." Eric led the way to the room; he was being guided by Shelly, who was once again, transmitting directions into his earpiece. Seymour followed him, they both made sure to make as little noise as possible. Once they reached the disk, Eric quickly slipped it into his pocket; he didn't want to drop it. If he had slipped the disk into his pocket the first time, he might have made it with the disk, but that time had passed. "I like having you with me this time Seymour, it makes me feel less alone." "No problem" Seymour replied. "Security alert! Section 9" was heard over the intercom. Apparently the security guards had woken up and seen them in the security cameras. Eric and Seymour began to run toward the door. As Eric ran, he felt the memory of twenty minutes ago flooding his mind. He didn't like being reminded of his last encounter with Sarge. There he was, a man with a scar on the left side of his face ran into their path, "You again!" the Sarge said with disbelief. Eric immediately grabbed his pocket, as if to shield the disk from the Sarge's hand whipping out ten feet and grabbing it. Seymour also reached into his pocket. He pulled out a red disk. Sarge wasn't about to let them go, but Seymour walked a few feet away from Sarge, and threw the disk at Sarge. Immediately, large bands of wire extended from the fake disk, constricting Sarge. He fell on the floor, immobilized. Eric and Seymour walked around him as if skirting a ledge on a cliff. "So you weren't just following me around for fun." Eric said as he turned a corner.
Eric and Seymour didn't go back to the Science Facility, other than a stop at a fast food restaurant, they headed immediately to the entrance of the underground caves. Their motorcycles were automatically searching for the origin of the sleep waves, and led the way using a type of radar. Eric and Seymour entered a large room. The room was shaking, and loud noises were coming from a gigantic machine that was taking up almost all of the space in the room. Eric saw exactly where the disk would go, and put it in. The buzz ceased, and Eric felt his senses beginning to heighten, as if he was waking up.
"Eric, honey, wake up, you don't want to sleep all day, do you? Do you want to grow up to be a bum that just lies around all day?"
June 13, 2003
User Reviews
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2006-11-16 15:12:37 EST (#)
Ranking: -1
You! Sure! Like! Exclaimation! Points?????
Submitted by hour_man (user info) at 2006-11-16 04:53:17 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2006-11-15 23:02:46 (#)
Ranking: -2
He pressed a button on his new red watch, to reveal a flying, red, 2 seat motorcycle
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Fucking SHIT!
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2006-11-15 21:29:51 (#)
Ranking: -2
Bloody hell, I wasn't serious.
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I love the way people +2 it because Thorpe did. This should have been -2nami.
No way should this be anything above -1. Regardless of the story it was fully of cliche 'Terry Pratchet' styled characters. The story was a -1, but the format was a -10. Awful, just awful.
Submitted by ghola (user info) at 2006-11-15 23:38:58 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
it's not your first post. you know how paragraphing works.
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2006-11-15 23:02:46 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
He pressed a button on his new red watch, to reveal a flying, red, 2 seat motorcycle
--------------
Fucking SHIT!
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2006-11-15 21:29:51 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Bloody hell, I wasn't serious.
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2006-11-15 21:19:45 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Where do I begin? Paragraphs? Grammar? Lack of editing?
The story idea was fine, but ......??
Submitted by jfreakman (user info) at 2006-11-15 21:15:40 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
tfl.
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2006-11-15 21:10:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
B@W