SOFT LAUGHTER (standard:science fiction, 6889 words)
Author: Danny Raven	Added: Dec 17 2006	Views/Reads: 3395/2208	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Alex Franks is forced to land on Cyras. The ship's computer told him that the planet was uninhabited but computers can sometimes get things wrong....seriously wrong.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

repair suit from a locker. He climbed into it and went below. 

* 

The inspection confirmed his worst fears. Substantiated his earlier
panic. The Converter was damaged beyond repair and would shut down 
completely very soon, which led to a very simple equation : no 
Converter means no fuel, no fuel means you drift, drift means you don't 
get home. Very simple really. “Very simple really !” he said aloud and 
giggled idiotically. 

He was slumped in the pilot's seat, the repair suit strewn carelessly on
the floor around him, staring out the observation windows. The ship 
seemed motionless. Frozen. Far off stars twinkled in the deep 
blue-black of space. He'd never noticed how pretty the deep blue-black 
was before or how nice it felt to be motionless. He could sit here 
forever and just stare out at space. 

Except the critical corner of his mind wouldn't let him. He could feel
it nagging away back there behind the warm fog which was drifting down. 


‘Come on !' it nagged. ‘Come on, come on - make a decision !' 

He tried to ignore it and lit a cigarette, his first in a week. He
leaned back in the chair and inhaled deeply, concentrating on the 
tingling spreading through his body. 

‘Come on !' the critical corner nagged. ‘Come on !!' 

It was as insistent as the alarm had been and he knew there was only one
way to shut it off. 

He sighed and stared at the ceiling. ‘Okay,I've got two choices,' he
thought lazily. ‘One – I could put out a distress message then sit back 
and wait for a rescue ship.' He considered this idea briefly then 
nodded in agreement with himself. ‘Yeah, that sounds allright. The 
Company must have several ships roaming round this area. One of them's 
bound to pick up the message and respond.' 

‘No good,' said the critical corner. ‘With no Drive power how can you
avoid the pull of any planets you pass or space debris or meteors. No 
good. Next.' 

He drew on his cigarette while the second choice worked itself out. 

‘Two – I could land on the nearest planet. Put out a distress message.
Wait for a rescue ship.' 

The critical corner considered this idea. It seemed to like it. Approval
flowed warmly through his mind. 

He sighed and drew again on his cigarette. For a while he lay back and
watched the smoke drifting upwards until it was sucked into an 
air-scrubbing vent in the Bridge ceiling. 

‘Move !' ordered the critical corner. 

Reluctantly he complied. He drew once more on the cigarette then stubbed
it out and swung round in the chair to the navigation computer and 
tapped in a request for the nearest planet and any significant data. 
White letters soon began flickering across the blue background of the 
screen.... 

NEAREST PLANET : CYRAS. 

“Never heard of it,” he muttered. The information on the screen
continued.... 

NEAREST PLANET : CYRAS. POPULATION : ZERO. ATMOSPHERE : COMPATIBLE. FOOD
SOURCE : ZERO. LANDSCAPE : DESERTS AND MOUNTAINS. 

‘Great,' he thought. ‘Couldn't be better. An uninhabited wilderness.
Terrific.' 

He shook his head and tapped in a request for the planet's co-ordinates.
 He leaned back in the pilot's seat and closed his eyes – maybe the 
rescue ship would arrive soon. 

II 

Three days after he landed on Cyras there was still no message of a
rescue ship. Each day he'd taken the airmobile and explored the planet, 
leaving the distress message beaming out continually from the main 
computer and praying for a reply. Each time he'd returned he'd cursed 
loudly when the monitor's blank screen told him there'd been no 
response so far. 

The information on the planet had been correct though – it was a dull
wilderness of vast empty desert plains broken only by ugly black 
mountains and cliffs. There were no signs of life but there were 
insects everywhere. The flies bothered him the most, swarming and 
buzzing round him everytime he put the airmobile down. 

He brushed some away from his face as he sat on a hill overlooking the
ship, smoking and gazing around as the planet's red sun slowly climbed 
down the sky. It was the only interesting thing about the place and 
bathed everything in a soft reddish glow. He reviewed his situation as 
the shadows lengthened. 

Only two more days fuel left in the airmobile. After that any exploring
would have to be done on foot, although there didn't seem much point – 
he'd seen enough of the place to tell him it would be a waste of time. 

The food should last about another six weeks with the rationing he'd
already started. Water could be a problem though. Even on the absolute 
minimum, it would only last another month. Still he thought he'd seen a 
stream about a mile into the--- 

‘Hello, Alex.' 

He spun round but there was no-one there. He heard the voice again
inside his head and his skin crawled. 

‘Hello, Alex.' 

‘I imagined it,' he thought, trying to reassure himself, glancing all
around but still not seeing anyone. ‘Too much time on my own.' 

He heard soft laughter inside his head. ‘No you didn't imagine it, Alex.
I'm real. At the bottom of the hill. Come and look.' 

He walked over to the edge of the hill and looked down, not expecting to
see anyone but someone was there, waving. Relief flowed through him and 
he felt himself relax. 

‘So I didn't imagine it, ‘ he thought. ‘Thank God for that.' He smiled
and waved back then started downhill towards the figure. 

* 

The first thing he noticed about the man was his thinness. How skinny
his arms were before they disappeared into the white robe he was 
wearing and how pronounced the bones were in his face but he was so 
relieved to have some company that he didn't give it much thought. Then 
he heard the voice inside his head again, welcoming him but the man 
hadn't spoken aloud. He frowned, puzzled. 

The man smiled. ‘Relax, Alex. I'm a telepath. We all are here.' 

“We ? “ Alex questioned. “You mean there are more of you ? Where ?” 

Soft laughter inside his head. ‘We've been out of sight, Alex. We had to
be sure you meant us no harm.' 

“How come you know my name ?” Alex asked him. 

The man smiled again. A gentle smile. ‘I've been inside your mind since
you arrived. I know all about you, Alex Franks. Come, meet the others.' 
He turned and walked away. 

For a few seconds Alex hesitated then he shrugged and followed. 

They walked for some distance, heading away from the ship, the red sun
casting long, narrow shadows in front of them. At the foot of one of 
the ugly, black cliffs they finally halted. Beside him, the man smiled 
then began climbing the rocky slope. 

Alex groaned. ‘Not up there ?' he thought, lagging behind. The cliff was
steep and he was tired from the walk and the rationing of the last few 
days. 

Above him, the man turned. ‘No, not up, Alex – in.' 

As if on cue, one of the boulders on the slope slid aside, revealing a
dimly lit passageway. Impressed, Alex glanced up at the white-robed 
figure then heard the soft laughter in his head again. 

‘I didn't move it, Alex. The others were waiting for us. They moved the
boulder from the inside. Come.' He held his hand out towards the 
passage. Alex hesitated. 

‘Come, Alex. Don't be afraid. We mean you no harm.' He smiled his gentle
smile again then turned and disappeared into the opening. 

Again Alex thought about it briefly then dismissed his fears. He climbed
the slope and followed him in. 

III 

He would never have found them, no matter how long he'd explored the
planet. Carved out of solid rock, the passageway stretched a long way 
into the cliff. The red sunlight streaming in guided them at first then 
the passage curved and after that they were walking in a red hazy 
darkness. 

Tendrils of fear began drifting around Alex's mind. He slowed, feeling
his way along, the rock cold and damp under his hand. He was 
considering turning back when he caught the soft glow of a light up 
ahead. 

‘We're almost there, Alex,' the voice in his head said, reassuringly.
‘You can rest soon.' 

The light ahead grew closer and eventually the passage opened into a
well furnished room. By the soft light, Alex could see a group of 
white-robed men and women sitting around. They rose to greet him when 
he entered. They all looked so pleased to see him and he felt himself 
relax again. He heard their voices inside his head as one by one they 
came over and welcomed him and said hello. 

“Hi,” Alex said, nodding and smiling. “Great to meet you all.” 

‘You don't have to speak aloud, Alex,' he heard in his head. ‘We're all
telepaths, two-way. Just think what you want to say and we'll pick it 
up.' 

Alex nodded. He looked round at the smiling group. ‘You all seem to know
my name,' he thought, ‘but I don't know any of yours.' 

‘Oh we don't use names much, Alex. We can recognise each others voices
so we hardly use them much but think of me as Derv if it makes things 
easier for you.' 

Alex nodded again but he was only half-listening – he had caught sight
of all the food on the table and it was pushing everything else from 
his mind. Derv saw him looking at it. ‘Hungry, Alex ?' 

‘Very.' 

‘Then please sit down and eat. Forgive us for not joining you but we've
already eaten.' 

‘You've eaten ?' Alex asked, glancing round at everyone. ‘But you all
look so thin.' 

Tinkling laughter inside his head. 

Derv smiled. ‘I suppose we must to someone like you but this is the way
we are. Please, sit down and help yourself.' 

The food was good after his meagre diet of the last few days and Alex
relished it. He chatted with Derv as he ate, surprised at how quickly 
he'd adapted to the new form of communication. ‘So you live here inside 
the cliff ?' he thought, indicating the room. 

‘It's always been this way, Alex,' Derv said. ‘Even on our own planet we
lived like this. Sunlight can be harmful to us if we stay out in it too 
long.' 

Alex frowned. ‘Your own planet ? You mean you don't belong here ?' 

‘I'm afraid not, Alex. We had to leave our home a long time ago. Our
planet was dying. It couldn't support us any longer. We set off in a 
fleet – those of us that were left. Our computer chose this place for 
us. We like it but it's not our home.' 

‘How many of you came ?' 

‘Oh there weren't too many of us left at the end. Some wouldn't leave.
But we're recovering slowly. You may be able to help us.' 

Alex looked surprised. ‘Me ? I don't see how.' 

Derv smiled. ‘But you're helping us now, Alex. Just by being here.
You've no idea how pleasant it is to have a visitor after all this 
time.' 

* 

The meal was over and Alex felt full for the first time in days. He
leaned back in his chair and sighed contentedly. 

‘What happened to your ship, Alex ?' Derv asked. ‘Tell us about it.
Perhaps we can help you to repair it.' 

Alex laughed. ‘Not unless you've got a Helium Coverter you can't !' 

They all smiled. As if they had been waiting for him to say it. He could
hear their tinkling laughter inside his head. 

Derv rose. ‘Follow me, Alex.' 

They took another long passage which led in a different direction from
the first one. It sloped up gradually as they walked and after a while 
Alex could feel a change in the air and up ahead saw some of the red 
light filtering in around a large boulder which blocked the entrance. 

‘Help me move the boulder, Alex,' Derv said to him. 

Bewteen them they moved it, Alex doing most of the work. Derv smiled and
beckoned for Alex to follow. 

The passage came out on the side of the cliff and Derv pointed to a
plain not far below. The light was poor and at first Alex thought he 
was looking at his own ship, that somehow they had circled back inside 
the cliff. Slowly he began to pick his way down the rocky slope. 

About half-way down he could see the ship more clearly. His heart leapt
when he saw the markings. Same kind of ship but another Company's 
markings. Heedless of the rocks, he charged downhill towards it. Behind 
him, Derv smiled and leisurley began to follow. 

Alex was in the Bridge when he rejoined him. The last rays of the sun
slanted through the observation windows, painting the inside of the 
ship a dark red. 

In his excitement, Alex spoke aloud. “There's a Converter on board !” he
told Derv. “It's an earlier model than mine but if I can remove it, I 
think I can fit it into my own ship !” 

Then he was silent awhile, his mind analysing the problem. How far was
it from here to his own ship ?  What tools would he need ? Did he still 
have the skill to do the job ? His mind raced on and Derv listened as 
darkness filled the Bridge. 

At last Alex said, “It's a long time since I did any work like this but
I think I can do it.” 

Derv smiled across at him. ‘Oh I'm sure you can, Alex. If you put your
mind to it.' 

IV 

He worked hard at removing the Converter over the next few days. 

His hands were clumsy round the tools at first but gradually old skills
came back and he achieved a semblance of dexterity. Often it was the 
technical side that held him back then he had to make the long trek 
over to his own ship to find the answers in the main computer. 

One of the others was always with him. At times he was glad of the
company but often he was so immersed in a particular problem that they 
ceased to exist physically. But he could always feel them there, inside 
his mind. 

Sometimes he took a break and went back to the room inside the cliff for
a meal but usually he was too busy and they brought food out to him. 
When  they insisted that he stop and eat he would grow irritated with 
them. 

‘You must eat, Alex. Keep your strength up,' he would hear from whoever
brought the food. 

Once he asked in a half-hearted way where all the food came from. ‘We
have lots of supplies, Alex,' Derv told him, ‘and we don't eat much 
ourselves. Besides, we do manage to grow a little – there are some 
fertile places on this new home of ours.' 

But he didn't really care. He would be gone soon. 

* 

Transporting the Converter was almost as difficult as removing it. The
others were no help at all, proving useless at physical work, till 
eventually he'd yelled at them to clear off and groaned and sweated and 
carted the damned thing himself. 

By the end of the week he was exhausted but the Converter was now in the
Drive section of his ship instead of the Drive section of the other. 

He wiped sweat and oil from his face with a rag and slumped down on the
floor beside it. Christ he was tired. Dog tired. He hadn't done so much 
physical work in years. All that easy living as a pilot must've turned 
him soft. Still, the worst of it was over and things should be easier 
from now on. Say another few days to remove the faulty Converter and 
fit this one. Then he would be away. 

He closed his eyes and the fatigue washed over him in waves. Wearily he
dragged himself to his feet and stumbled through to his cabin. He 
collapsed onto his bed fully clothed and was asleep instantly. 

In his sleep he dreamed of a huge black leech which fed off him. It grew
and grew and grew until it burst, covering him with his own sticky red 
blood. He was too exhausted to wake. 

* 

The sun was high in the sky and the inside of his cabin bathed in the
soft red light when he woke. 

His head throbbed and every part of his body ached. He pulled himself
out of bed and on shaky legs made his way through to the bathroom. His 
reflection in the mirror shocked him – a haggard, unshaved face stared 
back, the cheekbones prominent, the eyes sunken and black. 

He stripped and examined himself, surprised to find how thin his body
looked. His ribs stood out in his chest and arms and legs, once 
muscular, now looked as if they belonged to an old man. 

He pulled on clean shorts then stumbled through to the medical bay and
climbed onto the examination table. He tapped in a request on the 
computer for a full physical  check-up and lay back while his body was 
scanned. A couple of minutes later the scan was complete and he leaned 
on an elbow while he read the results on the screen.... 

DISEASE  :  NONE PRESENT. CLINICAL FINDINGS :  BODY HEALTHY BUT NINE
POUNDS UNDER NORMAL    WEIGHT. TREATMENT  :  INCREASE FOOD INTAKE. 

Nine pounds underweight !? How could he lose that so fast ? Puzzled, he
walked shakily through to the lounge. He poured himself some coffee, 
lit a cigarette and sank into a chair. No illness – yet he felt like a 
wreck. Increase food intake – yet he'd been eating well over the last 
week. 

‘But they haven't !' flashed through his mind and he sat upright so
quickly that some of his coffee slopped onto his legs, scalding him. He 
cursed but the pain seemed to return some sharpness to his mind. He 
wiped the coffee from his legs and tried to think things through 
logically. 

He hadn't seen them eating at all, not once. And yet they all seemed so
much fatter since that first time he'd met them in the room inside the 
cliff. At the same time, he who was eating two or three times a day was 
becoming much thinner. 

Conclusion ? 

He didn't like the way this was heading. 

Conclusion ? 

He drank some coffee, not wanting to face it. 

CONCLUSION ? 

They must be feeding on something and that could only be one thing –
him. 

How ? 

‘Vampires !' shot into his mind and a chill ran over him. He began
sweating, despite the coolness of the lounge. 

He went back to the medical bay and examined himself in the full length
mirror. He looked at his neck first but there were no bite marks under 
the stubble. There were a few scratches on his hands where he'd cut 
himself while working on the Converter. A few small red marks, insect 
bites, on his arms. But nothing tell-tale, no obvious punture wounds. 

There was one definite way to find out – a blood test. 

He punched in a request on the medical computer and held out his thumb
to be pricked on the small, sharp needle when it appeared. The results 
came up on the screen a minute later.... 

BLOOD CELLS ARE HEALTHY. CIRCULATING VOLUME IS NORMAL. NO ABNORMALITIES
DETECTED. 

Relief flowed through him – his blood was okay. 

So they weren't vampires. What then ? How were they feeding off him ? 

He stumbled back through to the lounge and flopped into a chair. The
throbbing in his head had stopped but something else was there. Them. 
He could feel their presence. They were listening to him. But they were 
always there and he could feel them inside his mind all the time. Now 
it was different. There was some subtle change. Like they were 
irritated. 

He ignored them and returned to his thoughts. 

‘They don't eat food. They're not vampires. They're feeding off me in
some way. How ?' 

He lay back in his chair, lit a cigarette and concentrated. Away
somewhere in the depths of his mind he could feel an idea swimming 
round, slowly making its way up. He closed his eyes and waited for it 
to surface. At the exact moment it did, he heard a sigh in his mind. 

‘So now you know, Alex,' Derv said inside his head. 

“Now I know,” he said, sitting up. “You're feeding off my thoughts
somehow.” 

‘I'm afraid so, Alex. We live on thoughts the way you live on food.' 

‘How the hell can you live on thoughts ?' 

It's the way we are, Alex. You eat food – we eat thoughts. We're two-way
telepaths, remember ? We pick up thoughts...then we feed on them.' 

Suddenly it all made sense and he cursed his stupidity. Him working on
the Converter. Thinking about the problems all the time. Derv 
encouraging him. Bringing him food. Them growing fat at his expense. He 
shook his head – Christ, he'd walked right into it. 

And his weight loss. Nine pounds in a week. Somehow he must have lost
weight quite quickly as they fed on his thoughts. 

‘There's really nothing you can do, Alex,' Derv told him. ‘There have
been others before you. We fed off them as well.' 

‘The ship I took the Converter from ?' 

‘Yes and many more before that.' 

‘And the food came from the other ships too ?' 

‘Yes. You're not the first, Alex and you won't be the last. You can't
escape.' 

He sat in silence awhile. 

Eventually Derv asked. ‘So what are you going to do, Alex ?' 

‘I'm not sure,' he replied. Because he'd only half-understood the plan
that was forming in the critical corner of his mind. 

V 

His plan started the following day. 

The ship was locked, so they couldn't get in. He knew he would still
hear them but not seeing them gave him a little more confidence. 

He took the circular mat into the lounge and laid it where it would
catch the sunlight slanting in through the windows. Two or three days 
he had thought, to reverse the process. They would grow weak again and 
he strong. Two or three days without any thoughts for them to feed on. 
Two or three days of pure meditation when there was only silence in his 
mind. 

He sat down on the mat and eased his tired body into position. He drew
his legs up and crossed one over the other. Rested his hands lightly on 
his knees. Straightened his back. Closed his eyes. 

He tried to clear his mind but in his weakened state it was difficult
and anyway they knew what he was trying to do. Knew he was trying to 
starve them to death. 

It took him five minutes to empty his mind of all thoughts. Then silence
in his head. Silence. No thoughts. Nothing for them to feed on. 

He heard Derv almost immediately. ‘There's no point, Alex. You can't
win.' 

He replied automatically, before he could stop himself. ‘Yeah I can. I
can. I can beat you.' 

Soft laughter inside his head. 

He cursed himself. Began again. Tried to empty his mind. And Derv kept
on provoking him – floated questions into his head, simple questions he 
couldn't stop himself half-answering. 

‘How are you, Alex ?' 

‘Tired. Every part of---.' 

Silence. 

‘Hungry, Alex ?' 

‘No but I could use a---.' 

Soft laughter. 

‘You can't beat us, Alex.' 

‘Yeah I can. I---.' 

The battle raged all morning. It took him till the sun was directly
overhead before he had some kind of control. He didn't bother with 
food. 

* 

In the afternoon they began attacking him in earnest. 

It wasn't just Derv now. The others joined in. They whispered at him
from all the corners of his mind. Quietly. Very quietly. So quietly he 
found himself straining to catch them. 

‘Alex...Alex...Alex...Alex...' 

Then the whispering gave way to their normal voices. Having a
conversation all across his mind. Not talking directly to him. Then 
occasionally darting a question at him to which he half-replied before 
he caught himself. 

Then the shouting began. All of them. Six or seven or eight. Shouting at
him. Each other. Anything. Singly. In two's three's. Alltogether. 

Then they were screaming. Shrill cries and screams screeching and
echoing inside his head. Howling. Jangling. Piercing. Shrieking like 
knives all across his mind. 

Then silence. Long, empty, eerie silence. 

The sweat ran down his back, his chest, his legs. He dug his nails into
his palms, waiting for them to begin again. 

Soft laughter echoed round his head. Was joined by other laughter. All
soft. Like children's. It deepened. Criss-crossed his head. Deeper 
laughter. Growing. Building. Pulsing. Evil, crazy laughter. All inside 
his mind. On and on and on till he thought his head would explode. 

He started screaming and shouting to try and kill the noise....long
seconds dragged by before he realised the only thing he could hear was 
his own voice. 

Silence. At night he took a couple of tablets to help him stay awake. He
suspected they could feed on his dreams. 

* 

On the second day the voices inside his head grew more sporadic. 

Sometimes he slipped and responded to them but he was gaining control
all the time, growing stronger. After a long silent period, they tried 
what he prayed was their last attempt to break him. They set up an echo 
effect inside his head. All of them, one after the other, from all the 
dark corners of his mind. 

‘Alex...Alex...Alex...Alex..' 

‘Alex Franks...Alex Franks...Alex Franks...Alex Franks...' 

Overlapping and on and on, growing louder and louder. Then some of them
started laughing while the others continued the echoes. But he was 
becoming detached enough to ignore them and he knew they couldn't keep 
it up for much longer. The echoes and the laughter trailed away and 
stopped. 

By mid-afternoon he was confident enough to leave the mat and heat some
food. Then a shower. He did it all purely by reflex – there were no 
thoughts involved. 

Towards evening he detected a subtle change in the way they spoke to
him. There was just a touch of desperation about it, as if they knew 
there was now a chance they might lose. He ignored them and 
strengthened his resolve not to respond. Later on he allowed himself a 
meal then a sleep in the lounge. He instructed the computer to wake him 
in two hours. 

At night some more of the tablets helped him to stay awake. 

* 

The following morning found them strangely silent and him much stronger.
There was the occasional pleading which he ignored. 

Once Derv asked him, ‘Is it too much to ask for just a few thoughts,
Alex ?' 

He smiled broadly but his mind stayed silent as he breakfasted. 

At lunch time he prepared a healthy meal then slept for three hours. 

In the evening he walked through to the medical bay on stronger legs and
weighed himself. His weight had increased by a pound and a half. He 
grinned at the healthier looking man in the mirror and allowed himself 
another sleep. 

For the third night running he stayed awake, mainly in silent meditation
and when the first red rays of dawn entered the lounge it was time to 
put the next part of his plan into action. He wondered if putting any 
distance between them and him would reduce their power and anyway, he 
was tired of staying in the ship. He showered and packed some food. 

When he opened the door they were waiting for him. 

VI 

He came down the steps of the ship slowly, never taking his eyes off
them. 

They made no move towards him, just stood there in a semi-circle,
watching him. His heart surged when he saw how much thinner they were 
and it made him feel even stronger. At the bottom of the steps he 
halted. 

Derv said, ‘It's pointless, Alex. No matter how far you go we can still
reach you. We can still feed on you. Distance means nothing to us.' 

He stared at them coldly but didn't respond. He began edging away from
them but they made no attempt to stop him, didn't even move. Just 
watched him in silence. 

When he was a hundred yards from the ship, he turned and looked back.
They had started to follow. He turned and headed into the red-tinged 
wilderness. 

* 

He didn't stray too far and after an hour he doubled back. The voices
were always with him but there was a definite change in them now – they 
were pleading almost all the time and he noticed that there didn't seem 
so many of them. 

‘Talk to us, Alex. Just a few thoughts.' 

‘It's agony, Alex. The hunger is terrible. Can't you give us some
thoughts ?' He heard a woman weeping but he ignored it and continued 
leading them round and round in the wilderness. 

There was another reason why he wanted to keep them after him. It had
occurred to him earlier that they would probably use up energy as they 
moved around but as there would be no thoughts for them to feed on, 
their reserves would be used up pretty fast. Which meant they'd be 
growing thinner and weaker all the time. He walked on. 

When the sun was higher in the sky and was casting a warm glow over the
planet he stopped to eat. This gave them time to catch up but he wasn't 
worried. He leisurely finished his meal then picked some cover when 
they drew near – he wanted to see them. He almost laughed when he did. 
There were only five of them left and they were very, very thin. So his 
reasoning about them losing weight quite quickly was correct. He smiled 
and watched them go by. 

* 

They tried a new tactic. 

Derv said, ‘How will you repair your ship without thinking, Alex ?' 

The others took it up. ‘You'll never do it, Alex. You'll never do it.
You'll have to start thinking again. How can you work without thoughts 
in your mind ?' 

He grinned – that one had already been worked out a few days ago. Still
grinning, he allowed a single, loud thought to run triumphantly through 
his head. ‘Easy – I wait till you're all fucking dead !!' 

In the silence of his mind, there might have been a hint of soft
laughter but he shook his head. No, he must have imagined it. 

* 

A few days later only Derv was left alive and barely at that. Alex
tracked him to the shelter of some rocks where he'd crawled. Compared 
to his own body which was gradually returning to normal, he was a 
living skeleton – some of his bones were visible and the skin on his 
face had started to split around the nose and chin. 

As Alex watched him writhing about feebly among the rocks and sand, he
felt a weak thought coming into his mind. 

‘Just a few thoughts, Alex....please.' 

Despite the nightmare he'd been through he found himself curious about
how they grew. He wanted to see it happening with his own eyes. He sat 
on a rock near Derv and allowed a stream of thoughts to run through his 
mind. 

It happened very fast. Within minutes, he could see the flesh growing on
Derv's face. Saw the skin join and become thicker around the nose and 
chin. Saw the grateful look in his eyes. 

He'd seen enough. He closed his mind down again. 

When he returned a few hours before sunset Derv was dead. He wept with
relief. One by one, he found the skeletons of the others, every single 
one he'd met in the room inside the cliff. Accounted for them all. 

A wild joy exploded in his heart and mind. He was free of the bastards !
The goddamned leeches !! He ran and danced and sang his way back to the 
ship, feeling a wonderful glorious lightness in his head. 

For the first time in weeks his mind felt empty, except for his own
thoughts. 

VII 

He slept soundly for ten hours when he returned to the ship. When he
woke, he planned out the work he still had to do over a leisurely 
breakfast. The useless Helium Converter had to be removed and the other 
fitted. He smiled as he allowed different parts of the work to run 
through his mind – it was such a relief to be able to think freely 
again. 

He strolled through to the lounge with a cigarette and a cup of coffee
and began to consider the problems. It was going to take about a week 
to complete the work, which meant his food supplies would be adequate. 
His water could do with topping up though and later he would stroll 
over and collect some from the room inside the cliff but he wanted to 
start work on the Converter right away. 

He finished his coffee and cigarette and humming happily to himself,
pulled on a work-suit, collected his tools and strolled down to the 
Drive section. 

* 

He worked hard for two days but the job proved more difficult than he'd
thought. The removal had been straightforward enough but fitting the 
other Converter wasn't as simple as he'd hoped. There were a few 
alterations and modifications he'd need to make. 

He felt irritable. The hard work and the lack of sleep the previous week
had left him feeling worn and tired and the fact that he'd walked over 
to the cliff and found both entrances to the room heavily blocked 
hadn't improved his state of mind. 

He took a break one afternoon and carried a cup of coffee through to the
lounge. The view from there was calming and he wanted to try to relax 
and get the work into perspective. He lit a cigarette and stared out 
the observation windows. 

The red sun was climbing down the sky, flooding the landscape with its
soothing light. A vast sandy plain stretched away to some mountains in 
the distance. The sky behind them was a deep crimson, lightening up in 
stages to a soft pink. 

Some of the irritation receded in his mind and he finished the coffee
and lay back on the couch. He closed his eyes and tried to think about 
the job rationally. 

‘Okay, you've ran into a few snags – so what ? They're minor things,
trivia. They won't keep you here forever, just delay you, that's all. A 
few more days won't kill you, so relax. Take the problems one by one. 
You know you can beat them. Then you'll be away.' 

Away. He smiled. What would it be like getting home after all this ? He
sighed. It would be so good. So damn good. He lay there and daydreamed 
about it for a while as the red sun slid further down the sky. He would 
have lain there a while longer, just daydreaming but the critical 
corner of his mind was growing impatient. 

‘Move !' it ordered. 

Alex grinned. “Allright, I'm moving,” he said and reluctantly rose to
his feet.He yawned and took a last look at the view from the 
observation windows. He turned to go and Derv was standing in the open 
doorway. A partly fleshed skeleton. There was only one eye in the 
half-formed face. There was no skin at all over his nose and mouth. All 
the bones in his hands and feet were visible. 

Alex screamed and staggered back against the couch. 

Derv smiled a hideous smile. ‘Hello, Alex.' 

“You're dead ! “ Alex screamed. “ I killed you !! All of you !!!” 

Soft laughter in his head. 

‘Not quite, Alex. You reduced us to bare bones, that's all. You didn't
kill our life-force. No-one can. I told you that you couldn't win.' 

“But if I die you'll have no-one to feed on !” Alex screamed at him.
“You'll all die too !!” 

‘No, Alex. We can stay as skeletons for years. It only takes a few
thoughts to bring us back to life. Others have been here before you. 
They died as well. There's no escape, Alex.' 

He felt his mind invaded again. Like tiny insects scrabbling around
inside his head. He didn't have the strength to resist them. He slid to 
the floor and wept. 

VIII 

The rescue ship arrived two weeks later. 

His distress message had beamed out all that time but the Company had
ran into trouble in the Baltok System and no-one could be spared until 
now. The two-man crew had landed a short distance away on the same 
plain. They'd searched briefly for Alex but couldn't find him. “He must 
be around here somewhere,” the Engineer said to the Captain when he 
returned from inspecting the Drive section. “He's been working on 
replacing the Helium Converter. Another few days and he would've been 
finished.” 

The Captain was sitting in the lounge, staring out the observation
windows as the setting sun bathed the plain in a dark reddish haze. “So 
where the hell is he then ?” 

The Engineer wiped his hands on a rag and shrugged. “Don't know. Could
be anywhere I suppose.” 

The Captain yawned and stretched. “Well it's too late to continue
looking for him tonight. Let's get some sleep. We'll work out a search 
plan in the morning....after we've had time to think about it.” 


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