Extraterrestrial beings -- Fiction; Medical students -- Fiction; Science fiction
It was as though a light had snapped off in his mind, or a door slammed
shut. There was no sound, no warning; yet, suddenly, he felt dreadfully,
frighteningly alone, as if in a split second something inside him had
been torn away. He sat bolt upright, staring, and he felt his skin crawl
and his fingers tremble as he listened, trying to spot the source of the
trouble.
And then, almost instinctively, he knew what was wrong. He leaped to
his feet, tore open the door to the cubicle and dashed down the hallway
toward the control room. "Fuzzy!" he shouted. "Fuzzy, _where are you?_"
Tiger and Jack were both at the control panel dictating records for
filing. They looked up in surprise as the Red Doctor burst into the
room. Fuzzy's platform was hanging empty, gently swaying back and forth.
Dal peered frantically around the room. There was no sign of the small
pink creature.
"Where is he?" he demanded. "What's happened to Fuzzy?"
Jack shrugged in disgust. "He's up on his perch. Where else?"
"He's not either! Where is he?"
Jack blinked at the empty perch. "He was there just a minute ago. I saw
him."
"Well, he's not there now, and something's wrong!" In a panic, Dal began
searching the room, knocking over stools, scattering piles of paper,
peering in every corner where Fuzzy might be concealed.
For a moment the others sat frozen, watching him. Then Tiger jumped to
his feet. "Hold it, hold it! He probably just wandered off for a minute.
He does that all the time."
"No, it's something worse than that." Dal was almost choking on the
words. "Something terrible has happened. I know it."
Jack Alvarez tossed the recorder down in disgust. "You and your
miserable pet!" he said. "I knew we shouldn't have kept him on board."
Dal stared at Jack. Suddenly all the anger and bitterness of the past
few weeks could no longer be held in. Without warning he hurled himself
at the Blue Doctor's throat. "Where is he?" he cried. "What have you
done with him? What have you done to Fuzzy? You've done something to
him! You've hated him every minute just like you hate me, only he's
easier to pick on. Now where is he? What have you done to him?"
Jack staggered back, trying to push the furious little Garvian away.
"Wait a minute! Get away from me! I didn't do anything!"
"You did too! Where is he?"
"I don't know." Jack struggled to break free, but there was powerful
strength in Dal's fingers for all his slight body build. "I tell you, he
was here just a minute ago."
Dal felt a hand grip his collar then, and Tiger was dragging them apart
like two dogs in a fight. "Now stop this!" he roared, holding them both
at arm's length. "I said _stop it_! Jack didn't do anything to Fuzzy,
he's been sitting here with me ever since you went back to the cubicle.
He hasn't even budged."
"But he's _gone_," Dal panted. "Something's happened to him. I _know_
it."
"How do you know?"
"I--I just know. I can feel it."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account