Kathy's Kelter

Chapter Eleven- Salvage and Somnambulism

  Kathy gasped, pushing herself up only to be gently persuaded back down with tentative hands. She squeezed her eyes shut. Her head hurt. It throbbed, feeling like someone was crushing her skull with eagle talons. The pain seemed to simmer as something, a fluid, was injected into her inner elbow. Kathy blinked open her eyes. Above her were a set of small cabinets to the side, and a dimming rectangular light source. A small hand fitted into hers, squeezing it. Rolling her head sideways, Kathy looked into the distressed gaze of Red. "Our smol friend" as Tulip liked to say. Kathy groaned, and Red portrayed his best comforting smile.

"You were out for awhile. Josh, Greg and Susie had to carry you back through the woods." He blinked, his smile breaking for a moment. "I helped."

Kathy was still perplexed. Seeing this, Red continued his explanation as Susie, one of the paramedics, checked her watch for the time.

"You were running like mad Kathy, you looked scared. Really scared." It was Red's turn for confusion.

Remembering the fire, she flinched, and with an urgent voice, blurted out. "There's a fire! Does 999 know? They need to get there quick, it'll spread next door."

Josh, lean, 25 or so turned to her with a thick Northern accent. " There's been a call about a fire, it's being dealt with; no casualties." He pushed his side fringe where it belonged, his smile calmed Kathy down.

" You were in a fire Kathy? Your house? Gubler?" He seemed to want to ask more, but with a warning glare from Susie, he shut up.

Kathy had decided she didn't like Susie, her blonde hair was slick in a pony tail, her eyeliner was thick, unneeded. The most relevant reason for Kathy's disfavour was that Susie simply looked mean. She sat unwelcoming over in the suitable ambulance seats, Kathy didn't believe being a paramedic was really the right job for Susie - not at all.

Red squeezed her hand again, and in answer to his questions, she smiled weakly. "Not my house, and Gubler is fine." Gubler was her pet goldfish who swam circuits of his little home on the mantelpiece every day. He was one of the little things that brought her joy. He? She's always assumed Gubler was male, though the possibility of him being a female was there.

Reaching for a glass of water that was resting on a unit, Kathy sighed. How had something so innocent gone so wrong? Her mind was still spinning. With a nod of slight approval from Josh, Kathy sat up. Judging by the tweeting birds outside and the faint luminescence of dawn, it must have been about 5am. Was it a school day? She didn't care.

The deep gash in her head was agonizing enough to keep anyone away from going about their daily lives.

Kathy tried to stand, which she immediately came to realise was a mistake. Reaching out for Red, Kathy floundered. Her head overwhelmed with pain and burning, her vision turned to red. The red turned to black, and she felt herself falling. Her head colliding with the bed, Kathy blacked out.

• • •

Light. The room was crammed with light. Kathy felt light. The white bulb beside her was alight. She stood up. Susie and Greg were dressed in ostentatious garments. Susie was equipped with a flowing yellow dress which was dashed with sequins. Greg wore a showy orange suit, perfectly juxtaposed with his face of trepidation. Josh was nowhere to be seen. They all stood in front of Kathy, scanning her health. Kathy was in no mood for claptrap. She needed to reroute the ship; at current, it was on course for crashing into Venus.

Laughing at the mirth of it all, Kathy wandered through the shuttle.

She needed to find the control room, though would she have the clearance to get in? A young looking man patrolled the corridor. He looked like an apparatchik - easy to take out. She could knock him out, and dress in his formal accessories.

"Heyy." Kathy slurred, looking at the man.

"Kathy? What are you doing up? You need to rest!" His nonplussed look urged Kathy to grin neurotically. She decided to get it over with. Tackling the man, Kathy slammed his head into a wall. His ember of consciousness had been blown out. Perfect. Kathy removed his cap, shoes, and gloves. She acquired his keys, and went on her way.

At the end of the hallway, she found the control room. A keyhole was placed halfway down the metallic door, and Kathy tried the key. Success.

The door creaked open, revealing a large room with a padded chair at the rear. Before the chair lay a set of controls - exactly what she was looking for. Kathy pootled towards the lever. She knew the correct appliance to adjust, and completed it with ease. The ship was now heading for Earth.

Smiling with glee and contentment, Kathy walked back to her quarters.

As she moved, the environment altered. The lights dimmed, and the walls changed. The control room faded, as did the exotic outfits of the crew. Crew? They began to look less like a community and more like a group of people who were there because they needed to be. Her head swimming once more, Kathy questioned everything. She wasn't on a spaceship at all, was she? Her hand brushed the deep incision in her forehead. She sincerely hoped the injury had not affected her cognitive health; how would she complete her A Levels? Had it affected the baby? Worrying more than before, Kathy's grip on unconsciousness tightened. Strongly feeling a sense of déjà vu, Kathy's world mutated into black.