Caz
“Are you going to kill us?” whined the man Spin was tying up. The other man was still sprawled on the floor, dried blood on his head and face. His chest continued to rise and fall rhythmically, so I knew he was alive.
The room we were in had a bank of screens on the wall in front of a large control board. Spin had moved the chair away from the computer monitor he had shot as it was sparking dangerously. He finished tying the man’s legs and then shoved him into the chair.
“Shut up,” hissed the woman. I had tied her hands behind her and then tied her to a chair. She was the only one of the three who would be any trouble if she got free.
“But they might be one of the aliens, here to infiltrate us and kill everyone.” The panic in his voice made his words nearly unintelligible.
“Oh for heaven’s sake.” I turned to the woman. “Do you have to put up with this all the time?”
She turned her look of scorn from him to me. “He is an idiot, but at least I can trust him. Plus, he raises a good point.”
“So you really think,” I said, “that there are aliens attacking the space mines and on their way here?”
“That’s what is being said,” she replied.
I rolled my eyes. “There are no aliens. It’s a cover-up and you completely bought it.”
“I don’t believe you,” she said defiantly.
I shrugged. “Fine. Spin, would you turn on the vids?” I tried to maintain a cold stare at the woman, but after too long without any sound, I faced him. “Is there a problem?”
He was concentrating intensely on the console, reaching a finger forward every few seconds before pulling it back. “That’s…a lot of buttons,” he said.
“Help him,” I growled at the conscious man.
He slowly hopped over to console and stared down at it as well. “Try the blue button,” he finally muttered. Spin hit it, but nothing happened. “Huh,” said the captive. “Maybe it’s the yellow button, and then turn the dial beside it halfway.” Again nothing.
“When I worked the sound board at school, I would sometimes hit the big red button a few times to get things going.” He reached out and hit the biggest red button he could find. The lights in the room flicked on and off a few times.
“I wondered how the lights worked here,” said the captive. “Maybe those two green buttons at the same time?”
I couldn’t believe it. “What are you trying to pull?” I yelled. “Just get the vids running!”
He cowered against the console. “I’m sorry. I don’t usually run this board. I’m the audio com guy.”
“So who does run it?”
He looked at the unconscious man, and then back at me. I resisted the urge to rip off his eyebrows.
“What now?” asked Spin. He faced me and crossed his arms, leaning against the board. The video displays behind him sprang to life, emitting a cacophony of noise. The captive emitted a squeak and fell forward, hitting the ground with a thud. Spin spun around and stared at the board for a moment, finally turning a single knob which quieted the din. A few seconds later, he threw a series of switches before turning the knob again. This time there was only a single voice, matching with the picture in the top left hand corner.
“All he has to do is spin the wheel to a seven or a banana and he is through to the bonus lightning round, which today features actual lightning…” Spin flicked a switch, cutting the woman’s voice of.
“Wrong channel,” he said. Glancing at the bank of monitors again, he flipped another switch, pointing at the screen nearest him.
“…disturbing new evidence about the alleged alien invasion as recently described by President Nairu. It appears that a massive hoax has been perpetrated, leading everyone to believe that a danger existed where there was none…”
He switched to another screen. “The president was unavailable for comment when we contacted his office, but a statement was released, stating ‘We will be looking into these allegations.’ Understandably, people were not comforted by this lack of response…”
He continued to switch between stations, all of which said something similar, until I told him to cut them off
“What do you think now?” I asked.
The woman had lost her bravado. “Why would they do this?” She seemed to have withdrawn, almost asking herself and not us.
“Power,” I replied. “It is easier to control a scared populace than a curious and comfortable one. No one asks questions when they are scared. They just follow whatever they are told will make them safe.”
Sobbing came from the floor where the audio com man was laying. The woman was nearly catatonic from shock. We had done enough damage here. “Let’s go,” I said to Spin.
As we neared the main doors, they were ripped apart by a massive explosion. I was thrown back several feet, smashing against a wall with enough force to rattle my teeth. The last thing I saw before I was buried under the wall Spin laying near the room door, blood pouring from his head.
And then there was darkness.
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