|
THREE CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN EXIT
The Hitchiker’s Guide According to Philip K. Dick
The Cando-Veesh was a dead box in space. The Meegs had come suddenly without warning out of the depths of space, their phazons smashing the engines and decapitating the vessel. Only the center chamber remained, powerless and remote. Jania Brix punched the buttons on the dead console, her long slender legs behind the desk encased in green Sexx-flex. Her beauty was deceptive, for only hatred and bitterness lie under that attractive skin. Telmad SE693 sat without thoughts of despair, for while he had
sentience he lacked human frailty. As a tall humanoid of silver, his face betrayed none of his superiority. Semper Saxton bite his small moustache in mousy silence. His tiny
stature described everything inside him. Jania turned from the screen to Semper.
"Any word from Control?" she snapped. She hated incompetence in any one or anything. She got up and checked the radio herself. "Damn, Saxton, can’t you even watch the
radio?"
"Mistress," interrupted the android. "I have told you that the radio does not work. Badgering Mr. Saxton will not change that fact."
"Shut up, metal-head." It was Semper Saxton who yelled the insult. "I can take care of myself. Why don’t you two just leave me alone?" It was then that the Meegs cut into the hull, their hungry lasers eating a deadly hole into the only thing between space and death. Jania yelled, raising her own laser-weapon as a bolt of fire cut her in half. Semper dove for cover behind the console chair, his life pouring out the hole in the back of his head. Telmad SE693 fell over like the inanimate slab of circuits he was, his SUCKS LIFE SUCKS ...
Story originally appeared in Nuketown
G. W. Thomas lives in Central British Columbia. His work has appeared in over
100 different books and magazines including FLESH & BLOOD, GOTHIC.NET
and the up-coming STRANGEWOOD TALES. He is editor of the free newsletter E-GENRE WEEKLY at http://e-genre.tripod.com/index.html.
Web Site
Return to Table of Contents
|