Colony Omega Chapter 7
To all,
I hope all of you have stayed safe in 2021 so far. To those of us in the USA, things have started out in quite the 'special' way. I hope, no matter the political affiliation, that we in the USA will play nice and move forward into a pleasant future together as one. I hope COVID-19 goes away and we can hug again as a natural way of saying hello.
As the ground-based worlds of the Cats and other species settles into the day-to-day grind of basic survival and growth of the colonies, I hope to share a more introspective view of the characters and their interactions between species, but also between colonies.
Any aliens, real or imagined in this story are purely a construct of my twisted and warped mind.
I thank everyone so much for reading my stories and hope you continue enjoying them.
***
DB awoke with a start. He was disoriented and could not place where he was. The noise, the trembling the confusion.
All he could remember was the fear, the fear that was swimming towards him. NONE survived for long swimming in the Oceans...NO ONE! He was treading water in relatively calm swell. It was not the waters he feared, but what was beneath the surface.
He knew he was going to die, but would it be quick or ripped slowly apart? It depends on what sea creature got to him first...The fear welled up in his throat!
His eyes flicked around and down. He was in a very cushy and comfortable flight lounge chair, strapped down. The noise he heard and felt were the thrusters of the shuttle he was now in.
DB mentally shook himself and realized he was in the shuttle headed to the capital. Time for the annual governors meeting. His cousin, Lord Drew had asked all the Governors for one solid week of meetings and work.
No hint on why that much time, but a promised explanation upon arrival.
The realization of his current situation did not relieve all the stress caused by his very vivid dream.
'Guilt can do that to you,' he thought.
He knew that the last several weeks had added to the stress he felt each day. The worst being his rash decision to send all the hateful to their doom.
He knew he sent them to frightening deaths. He could have sent them to a holding cell or at worst 100 meters deep in the ocean so they would drown relatively quickly. But he didn't, and he knew why. All the raven and special investigative groups research led to one conclusion. They, this group of human hate mongers had done what he witnessed many times before.
Many different species had been terrorized before their deaths. And his anger at seeing it firsthand had tipped a scale inside DB.
He knew he needed to clear his thoughts and get ready to put on a calm demeanor for the rest of the governors, but he was just so damned tired.
*
DB briefly closed his eyes and played back the scene, trying to justify the terror he created. Trying to justify it to his soul...with little success.
The whole scene rolled out before him again, harkening back to times hundreds of years ago, where fear was used to oppress and subjugate. But he had to remind himself, the Humans that made up the Odessa had used the same tactics for control. These were just the leftover vermin from that group.
They talked and talked, how they had to regain their control and fortunes. To cast out these foreign devils, that Satan had brought to destroy their lives. DB looked up in the trees and saw that his drones were in place and capturing the footage necessary to justify his next action.
Four members of the group surged forward and grabbed the Foxy and righted her. They had bagged her, but left her mouth unbound so they could hear and mock her pleas. The rope was thrown over a high branch and then they pulled.
The Foxy screamed as the rope pulled taught and then she flopped down to the ground again. The clearing was quiet except for the crackling of the fire, she heard quiet footsteps come close. Her bleeding ear rotated to pick up as much sound as she could. Her body tensed as she felt hands on her, turning her over.
"It's ok, they are gone. You are safe and I'll get you to a hospital where your wounds can be treated."
*
DB felt sickened. He was a good man. He felt he really was, but...He had just slaughtered over 40 people without any due process of law. In a fit of blind anger, he had sent them swimming. Man, and woman together, into the dark water off the coast to find whatever sea denizen happen to be close and hungry. They were always hungry.
He had the video, that would show everything up to the point of the vanishing bodies. His newest Raven security officer would be sent to investigate. She would pass the word around to superstitious village folk that the capital was at work again. That evil doers would be punished. The video would become public and then the investigation would stall because of the lack of bodies.
He opened his eyes, they had more of a hard glint about them this time. He could feel the anger well up in him again. 'No one would touch one of his own again" he mentally promised himself.
DB felt the thrusters push harder as the shuttle positioned for final approach. He still did not know how to handle the guilt, but he pushed it down and shifted his lounge to inflight configuration and tried to clear his head for wat was to come.
***
The duality of life had become a norm for DB. Dealing with his expanded family life in Omega and having to take a heavier hand at the public sector. Each time he closed his eyes he could feel the fear of swimming alone in the water waiting for death to arrive. He wanted to relax, but new 'issues' kept piling up week after week.