Tag: Pegasus

Pegasus Part 42

I looked left and then right. What should I do?

Then I found myself running after her.

“Tabitha,” I roared out.

After taking another few strides she turned and faced me.

“What’s going on? Why were they about to tear me apart?”

She looked at the ground. And then spoke in a low voice.

“You have his complexion. The others only realized when you washed. I was going to tell you but it never seemed like the right time.”

“What?”

“Who do I look like?”

“Mark Ahern.”

My heart shuddered and every part of my body felt sick. It was the worst thing she could have said. He resembled the ultimate monster.

Still, it made sense. He had heard about the seed worlds of Mark Ahern, and there was always a chance that his habitat could have been one of them. He was a man obsessed not only with his own power and wealth but also with spreading his DNA throughout the cosmos. it was now a fact.

“And you love me?”

“Yes, you may resemble him but that’s where it ends. You are a kind and courageous man. You, sir, are nothing like him “

With that, we went back to tending to the injured who were already adjusted to my cleaner look.

Pegasus Part 41

Satiated, I turned and made my way back up the rocky trail to the encampment. At times, being forced to climb I thought there must be an easier way. The scene of devastation remained much the same.

I began to feel uneasy as I walked into the center of the encampment. The cries of pain and anguish had stopped. There was an eerie silence. Then I noticed that all the piecing eyes were focused on me. Their faces were etched with anger. Roars broke the silence.

“He’s one of them.”

“Get him.”

What the fuck?

Tabitha appears out of the corner of my eye. She jumps in front of the growing, braying mob.

“Listen, he’s not one of them. He saved my life. It’s not his fault how he looks.”

And I thought she liked my looks. What the hell is going on?

They shouted back at her.

“You should not have brought him here!”

“Kill him!”

I look around for somewhere to run but there is nowhere. All escape routes are now blocked off by rows of people.

“I love him. If you touch him, I am gone.”

Nobody had said anything like that about me before. The angry crowd seemed to be stunned too. The shouting stopped and they dissipated.

Tabitha looked back at me and then walked away.

Pegasus Part 40

Eventually, someone pointed at me and told me that I should go clean myself up. That there was water down a narrow ravine. They were correct, if I was going to comfort people I needed to look the part and not remind them of the horror.

So I made my way down. It was steep and at times I had to resort to climbing down. There was a time not so long ago when this would have made me fearful but no longer. I had been through too much.

After a few minutes, I finally made it down to what was a large pond with a sand embankment. I went to get in but then froze in fear remembering a program about Earth and its crocodiles. If I remember correctly, it stated that some of its species had been around since the dinosaurs. They could be in this pond.

I scanned my eyes over the water but there was no movement. A wall of rock lay on the other side. Slowly, I took steps towards the water before taking off my top, and then trousers and dipped them into it. Slowly the blood came out. Then I splashed some on my face. It felt nice to the skin and had no foul odor. Feeling parched, I knew I needed to drink. Fortunately, I had figured out that it wasn’t stagnant water. It was dripping into the pond in a mini waterfall through a crack on the opposite wall and draining slowly away somewhere underneath. It was never going to be perfect, I just had to risk it. I lurched forward on his hands and knees and sipped voraciously.

Pegasus Part 39

The scene only became more horrific as we drew closer. Different body parts were strewn here and there. The smell of now rotting flesh agitated your sense of self in the heat. The survivors, who had never seen me before just looked blankly into space as if in a daze.

It must have been that monstrous creature that we had just managed to avoid earlier. Perhaps, we hadn’t. It had simply satiated its hunger already. The thought sent a chill down my bones. Maybe it would be back.

I looked over at my companions. Tears were rolling down their faces at the devastation. I was thankful that I hadn’t known these people like they had.

Looking around I knew that I had to do something but it was difficult to know where to start. I went from place to place. Some people just wanted someone to hug me even though I was covered in blood myself. For others, I helped salvage their possessions. Some were relatively fortunate in that their tents were still intact.

For many, there was simply nothing I could do. Their loved ones were slain and everything they had was destroyed. It was easy to tell them apart. They were on their knees and their eyes a raw red.

Pegasus Part 38

As we rounded the corner of the hill, we heard a loud explosive roar. It was unlike anything I had heard before visceral, primal. It stopped us dead in our tracks. Then the acrid smell hit us.

“Don’t move,” Tabitha whispered, “if we stay perfectly still, it won’t register that we’re here.”

Then the monster appeared. It was huge, with large teeth, and relatively small front claws covered in large feathers.

I don’t think that I could have moved even if I wanted to, I was frozen with fear and a sickly feeling life was coming to an end.

It slowly moved its head to the left and then to the right. Fortunately, it didn’t sense our presence.

“Come on, get moving,” Tabitha demanded, “it’s gone now. We were very lucky that we were upwind or it would have smelled us.”

Grudgingly, I put one foot after another and began to move wondering how I ended up in this crazy situation knowing I had nobody to blame but myself.

Trudging up and down hillsides, sometimes traversing small streams. It was arduous. My feet were sore from walking around my hands were getting cut.

It took another hour to reach the campsite. and it was Tabitha who saw it first.

“No,” she roared out.

It lay in a valley between three peaks and most of it lay in ruins. The tents that provided shelter lay scattered around. Many were tainted an ominous red.

Pegasus Part 36

Running furiously was not enough. I could hear its steps getting closer and closer and turned my head in despair.

Its mouth was opened wide and I thought its large teeth would be the last thing I’d ever see as it pounced on me. Then I heard what sounded like a gunshot. Blood splattered all over my face and body as its heavy body fell onto me.

Then I heard Tabitha screaming, “Are you okay Ciarán?”

Concern was etched into her voice.

She clasped my hand and between the two of us, I managed to get out from under the body.

“What happened?” I asked half dazed.

“I don’t know, they never gotten into this part before.

“Tabitha, is that you?”

A black man, not quite six tall holding a heavy machine gun was now standing just a few metres from us.

“Tahir?” Tabitha said under her breath.

Tabitha ran towards him and they embraced warmly.

This was the man that had saved my life but I couldn’t help but feel suspicious.

“Tahir, this is Ciarán. He saved me and helped get me here. He wants to join us.”

“Any friend of Tabitha is a friend of mine.”

He shook my hands firmly.

Then he said, “Come this way. It’s dangerous out here.”

Pegasus (Part 31)

Gradually, the light faded and it became night in the habitat. It was now close to pitch black except for very dim lighting. But, you could still hear the massive creatures and occasionally smell what they left behind them. I wondered what magnificent or terrifying sights I would behold the next day.

“It’s amazing what has been built here, isn’t?”

Tabitha raised her head from my shoulder and stared at me.

“It’s terrible. There are billions of humans engaged in a living nightmare on Earth. I’ve been to London. They are forced to try to survive underground most of the time, drink filthy water, and eat barely edible food. This would be heaven on earth for them. And some of them were the best type of people. Instead, it’s one man’s playground. He’ll never even set his eyes on the majority of it.”

“Yes you’re right,” I replied wondering how things suddenly got so serious.

“It’s important, this is what I’ve given up my life for. I know you are new to all this but you must realize how important this cause is to me.”

” I know, and it’s important to me too.”

With that, she held my hand and put her head back on my shoulder.

Pegasus (Part 20)

“What do you expect me to be able to do?” His hands flayed around.

“Get me and her off this habitat and fast.” Ciaran could feel his muscles tense.

“And why would I do that? Do I look crazy to you?”

Ciaran looked at his angry friend and realized that relying on the bond of friendship just wasn’t going to cut it.

“There’ll be an award obviously.”

He could see his erstwhile friend’s imagination blossoming.

“How much?”

They both briefly went silent.

“More than you would ever need. She’s with a rich and powerful organization.”

“Well, you are a good friend I guess. And she needs help. There’s a back alleyway out of this place. Not many know about it. My car is right beside. I’ll take you to a safehouse. Now how did you get here?”

“On my flyer.”

“I’ll get someone to get of it and any cameras that may have seen you.”

“I’ll go get her.”

Ciaran went and got Tabitha. She had a big smile when she saw him. He took her hand and they followed Gerard through a series of narrow and twisting small laneways. There were multiple doorways to go in. A wrong turn and you’d end up in someone’s dwelling.

After a hundred or so meters, they reached Gerard’s red Cadillac, an archaic vehicle from a bygone area.

“Right, into the boot,” Gerard instructed.

Pegasus (Part 19)

It didn’t take long for that warm feeling of alcohol to hit. If only he was sitting here with her in a different context and they were not fugitives.

“So, do you have anyone on this habitat?”

She was flicking her hair.

“No, I never felt like I fitted with the women around here. All they want is to pray and talk about God and babies.”

“How awful”

“I know”

With that, they both laughed.

A punter at the bar briefly turned and looked in their direction. It shattered the moment.

“I’ll go and see if I can find that guy.”

I got up and made my way to the other side of the bar. And there was in his favorite seat. You could smell him from a distance, foul and persistent. He looked ragged and dirty.


Conas atá tú Gerard? An mbeidh ceann eile agat?

“Tá mé go maith. Ní fhaca mé le fada thú.”

They continued speaking in Irish.

“So what’s up Ciaran? Here for another session?”

“Unfortunately not, I’m in a spot of bother actually and you’re my only hope.”

“That doesn’t sound good. Go on, spit it out.”

He relayed the story of what had happened. Gerard grew increasingly crimson.

Pegasus (Part 9)

The taxi was right there waiting for me. I looked around at the countryside setting and then up at the town above me. There was no sign of any serious damage having been done to the habitat. Thank God for that.

I get into the taxi and quickly input my projected coordinates of the crash site. It immediately hovers into action. Off the ground, I now see smoke in the distance and I’m heading straight towards it over large green fields, broken up by unkempt hedges. The taxi lands beside a white spaceship protruding from the ground.

Leaving my taxi I sprint towards it. The stench of smoke pervades my nostrils. The top of the ship starts to peel back in a large screeching sound revealing a woman still strapped into her seat. Then she struggles to press a button and pulls herself out of the ship, falling down beside me.

Barely audible, she says “Help me! Don’t let them catch me”

She is speaking English. I have never heard someone actually speak it before but fortunately, I know the language from broadcasts on Earth that technically I shouldn’t be listening to. Also, she looks very different from the previous women I’ve met. She’s black with short hair whereas all the women in the habitat are white and have long hair. I pick up her bruised and bloody body and manage to rest her on my knees as we are both just about fit into the taxi before giving it instructions to return me home. I feel her face against mine. Her skin is soft. This is the closest I’ve ever been to a woman.