Nebulae and Cosmic Filaments - A Second Anthology of SF SD Shorts

Part 4 - Collector

With a cold wind blowing from the south and the storm sweeping in from the east, McCarty was forced to keep a brisk pace to avoid getting too cold and have the storm catch him in the open.  Thus he was able to reach the building in less than a half hour from where his landing was made.

Make that buildings.  The shape on the horizon was a sprawling complex of three and four-story buildings that covered several hectares of territory.  Considering how isolated this location was, it could only be one place: the Librarian's retreat.

McCarty slowed as he approached, eyes narrowed as he examined the low wall that ran around the perimeter.  So far, he hadn't detected any sign of movement.  But that certainly didn't mean anything.

Unslinging his rifle, he continued his slow advance, every sense turned to catch the slightest deviation from the howling wind and dodgy light.  And in doing so, he heard the rumble of something in the sky.  Something that wasn't thunder.  McCarty threw his eyes skyward and watched several large, diamond-shaped craft descend through the clouds, glowing thrusters on their bottom edges providing the sound that he had heard.

For a long moment he simply stared at the shapes as they continued dropping towards the ground, uncertain what he should make of them.  Then an implanted engram stirred to life and, with a cold rush, he recognized them as Revaat landing ships.  'They must be here, investigating the asteroid strike I was supposed to look like, on entry,' he silently reasoned.  Which meant he had just run short on time.

Renewing his grip on his rifle, McCarty pushed forward, eyes scanning the wall in front of him for an entrance.  He needed to get inside as quickly as possible.  If these aliens were as advanced as Kinsey said, they'd have no trouble figuring out that the asteroid was fake.  Or finding his footsteps leading away from it.

There!  It appeared to be some sort of back gate.  'Good enough,' he thought as he jogged towards it.  A hard push revealed it was locked.  'Not for long!' he thought, raising his rifle.

Thankfully no alarms sounded when he blew the locking mechanism into oblivion with one well-placed shot.  Kicking the door aside, he quickly stepped inside and, after closing it behind him to minimize his trail, he jogged towards the nearest building.

According to the layout that the old man had shown him, the Librarian kept most of his valuables in the main building.  A quick orientation and he was moving stealthily along the side of the building he had initially approached then over to what was the main building, an imposing ediface that stood a good three stories above anything else in the compound.

He was about to approach what looked like the main entrance when a scream split the air.  Somebody was in trouble in there!  Adrenaline abruptly pouring through him, McCarty bolted forward, charging towards the entrance.

A boot to the frame was enough to knock the unlocked portal aside and he stepped inside, rifle raised to the ready.  And quickly found himself looking on a terrible scene.

A woman in elaborate clothing lay crumpled on the ground, her clothing ripped, torn and blood-soaked.  A ragged gash opened her up from hip to breast, the reason her clothing was ripped.  And hovering above her was a lean, dark figure, clutching a viciously curved knife.

Hearing McCarty come in, the figure looked up from the body with a leer.

"Marie Antoinette was much sweeter in the flesh, my friend," he said with a distinct accent.  He then licked the blood dripping from his curved blade.

"Oh yes, much sweeter!"

"Well, obviously it's not meant to be taken literally," another voice was saying from a side hallway as it approached.  "It refers to any manufacturer of dairy products," it said before a gasped: "Jack!"