Meating Of The Mind - Part 1

There was nothing, perfect nothing, then there was pain. Commander Lyscene of Erishum’s Elite Space Forces felt his consciousness return through a fog, punctuated with difficulty breathing and the realization he could not see out of his left eye. Not that there was much to see, the room was dark and silent. He could tell he was restrained even though he knew he didn’t have a chance at walking, too much hurt and was broken. He grunted and tried to swallow. Suddenly cool water began to flow gently into his mouth, it was the best drink he ever had in his life.

“You are highest?”

“Oh…” Lyscene coughed, “What?”

“Of your people. You are the…most important.” The words came slowly, it was obvious this language was not the speakers’ first and native tongue.

Lyscene felt a rush of recall, he and his crew had been surveying planet XKBJ-42, and while the initial scans of months ago had indicated no life and no worthwhile resources… that must not have been true. More memories came back. “I am the Commander of the Juggernaut. Is my ship…”

“You ask first about your ship, not your crew.” The words came easier, a little more fluid although there was no intonation, this was a child trying out a new toy, a new thing, for the first time.

“My life is forfeit if my ship is destroyed.” Lyscene knew the price of failure, it was interesting this one did not. “Who are you?”

“I ask. You speak, you have no weight here.”

“I am minutes from death, I am not threatened by… whatever you are.” Lyscene could not see in the dim room, but then against all reason felt his pain vanish. Initially, he thought he had not minutes or seconds from death but was then and there about to fall into the next realm. His vision returned to both eyes, and they adjusted to allow him to see much better. That was a mixed blessing as the creature standing over him was one of the most repulsive creatures he’d ever encountered. The universe had a sick and twisted method of putting together some of its creations.

“You do not have to die, your body is simple.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything.”