Lottery
Chapter 33
By Mark J. Silva Jr
Tessa sat at the dining room table with Macy and her mom on the other side of the table, “Would you like to explain what you did?”
Macy averted looking at Tessa, “I was so mad; he kept getting away and when Wendy grabbed him and got the points, I couldn't help myself.”
Tessa looked at Macy and then over at her mother, “This is her first offense, and since it was in a VR game we can handle this here and now. Mercedes Ingalls, it is my recommendation that you are to serve twenty hours community service and enter into an anger management course at your school. Greystone Enterprise has barred you from playing Grunge City for six months. If your mother and you agree to this we can avoid a trial, possible incarceration, and a mark on your permanent record as a Male Abuser.”
“Okay, girls, we need to give Mark some privacy,” Olive said as she cleared Mark's room.
After the girls left the room, Mark got up and turned on a news stream, while he went hunting for a change of clothes.
“The Hestor Colony has struck once more,” the news anchorwoman said.
Mark stopped in his tracks, and turned his attention back to the news stream.
The Hestor Colony was on the opposite side of the galaxy. So far away that even the fastest ship took over a year to get there. About a hundred years ago when the colony was first established, they had run into a major problem. The four males who were in stasis for the trip had become sterile, most likely due to exposure to some stray radiation. When the colony sent back a message back to Earth, they were told there was no way they could be resupplied with males.
When a colony loses their males they have few choices. One was getting replacements from the sponsoring company. Another choice was to go back and buy new males, but this becomes an issue due to the cost of the males and the fact many owners are not willing to sell and ship precious males to a failing colony.
At first Hestor colony tried to buy males when the sponsoring company refused to ship replacements. However, the task of convincing the sellers their males would be safe, coupled with the ever-rising fuel costs, turned the entire process into a nightmare. Finally, out of desperation and after another failed sale, they kidnapped the male and ran for home. After the fourth such kidnapping, the colony had decided 'why settle on just four?' and after joining up with a few other colonies, it became a war of survival. The more males, the higher the chance a colony would prosper.
“Four hours ago a Hester raiding party struck on Cyres Three, kidnapping two males and sadly, killing the owners. This horrible events happened in the city of Sacameno and in the town of Yeaka.”
Mark walked closer to the holodisplay, as he couldn't believe how close the kidnappings sites were to him. He touched the small icons of the two males who had been kidnapped and they expanded. One was a young man of twenty-three, but the other was a boy of only ten. He had been taken from the town of Yeaka, only twenty miles distant.
Then Mark noticed that his yard suddenly darkened. Peeking out of the slider, he saw a large transport shuttle, just above the house. Without thinking, Mark stepped into the yard and watched. Then someone hung out of the transport, and pointed right at him.
Mark couldn't hear what the woman was yelling, but he turned back into his room. He touched the console by the slider, and locked up his room securely. Then he waited to see what was going on while Tina and Penny seemed to get agitated.
Di was the first to notice as the large shuttle touched down beside the house. She gave Tessa a worried look.
Tessa looked over at Macy and her mom, “I think you two should join the other girls in the living room while I go see what is going on.”
Sasha answered the door and greeted the officer there while Tessa entered the room for the dining room, “Captain Holifield? What brings you here?”
“Tessa, have you heard the evening news?” Captain Holifield asked as she stepped into the house with two other heavily armed officers behind her.
“I've been busy with a minor matter. What happened?” Tessa asked.
Captain Holifield noticed all the girls, in the room but no male.
“There's been a snatching, two males taken by force.”
Captain Holifield didn't have to say who did it. Just the fact that it had happened, meant only one group.
“We need to check on the male who is registered here and I will be leaving these officers here for tonight.
Three days later, the officers had cleared out, and everyone was relieved no other males had been kidnapped. Di had finished her evening get together, when the front door burst open, and four large heavily armed women rushed in and started threatening her and her friends.
“What the hell do you want!” Di screamed.
The leader of the group didn't say a word when she pointed her blaster at one of Di's friends and blew her head off, “I know there a boy here, give him up and no one else dies!”
All of Di's friends gave the intruders a nasty look.
“You don't have to do this, just leave and no one will get hurt,” Di said as she got up from her seat.
“Are you stupid, lady? I said give the boy up and no one else will get hurt!”
“I heard you, but you don't know what your are facing here,” Di said as her girlfriends snickered.
“I know who you are Diana Bradly, Medically discharged from the navy, mother of seven and widowed. Now if you don’t want to orphan your daughters you better give up that boy you have!”
Di looked at her friends and gave them a sly smile, “Follow me, then.”
Di lead them down the hall to Mark's door and entered a pass code. The heavy door slid silently open, and one of the ladies grabbed Di and forced her into the room, while the others followed closely.
Inside, the room was blacker than black with a single beam of light in the center of the room.
“They enter my den,” floated a detached voice through the room. No one could tell from whence it came.
“We have the old lady, give up the boy.” the leader demanded.
A set of yellow eyes appeared just past the beam of light.
“They have nothing,” said the detached voice.
“Can we eat them?” questioned another.
“They look juicy,” said said a third, as more yellow eyes appeared in the room.
“Give us the boy or the old lady gets it!”
A thump sounded, and a moment later a head rolled up to the leader's feet. Dead eyes stared up at the leader. Renna looked over to where her friend had been holding the old lady, and found both she and the old lady were gone, vanished into the darkness.
“You have nothing,” the detached voice repeated.
Staci fired her blaster at a set of yellow eyes, and as Renna watched a set of claws flashed and Staci's head came clean off.
“Feed more, feed us more! They are fat and juicy; feed us more,” the voices chanted.
Renna moved back and into her last friend Dora.
“What's going on here?” Renna said, her voice now quavering in fear.
Then a bunnygirl stepped into the light, “You have stepped into a wolf pack's den and have threatened to take their pup!”
The yellow eyes moved and then a bloody muzzle peeked into the light.
“Please! Let us feed! We are hungry!” whispered a hoarse, desperate voice.
The bunnygirl moved, and vanished into the darkness.
“If you want to live… RUN! NOW!”
Then the room filled with howlings and growls.
Renna bolted, running and screaming, leaving her two dead friends on the floor. Close behind her, Dora followed, running hard. They still couldn't figure out what was happening, only that someone had said to run. They left everyone behind, only to run into the local police, outside the house.
The room lights came on, and Mark started laughing his ass off, as two ladies stood there like puppets.
“See, mistress, I told you they never be able to tell the difference.”
Di looked at the two 'dead' ladies, who stood frozen in place as the two holographic 'bodies' on the floor, faded from sight. Mark stepped out from behind his holoconsole.
As he walked over to the ladies, Mark smiled and whistled six bars of music. Both ladies' eyes widened as they were once more able to speak.
Macy averted looking at Tessa, “I was so mad; he kept getting away and when Wendy grabbed him and got the points, I couldn't help myself.”
Tessa looked at Macy and then over at her mother, “This is her first offense, and since it was in a VR game we can handle this here and now. Mercedes Ingalls, it is my recommendation that you are to serve twenty hours community service and enter into an anger management course at your school. Greystone Enterprise has barred you from playing Grunge City for six months. If your mother and you agree to this we can avoid a trial, possible incarceration, and a mark on your permanent record as a Male Abuser.”
“Okay, girls, we need to give Mark some privacy,” Olive said as she cleared Mark's room.
After the girls left the room, Mark got up and turned on a news stream, while he went hunting for a change of clothes.
“The Hestor Colony has struck once more,” the news anchorwoman said.
Mark stopped in his tracks, and turned his attention back to the news stream.
The Hestor Colony was on the opposite side of the galaxy. So far away that even the fastest ship took over a year to get there. About a hundred years ago when the colony was first established, they had run into a major problem. The four males who were in stasis for the trip had become sterile, most likely due to exposure to some stray radiation. When the colony sent back a message back to Earth, they were told there was no way they could be resupplied with males.
When a colony loses their males they have few choices. One was getting replacements from the sponsoring company. Another choice was to go back and buy new males, but this becomes an issue due to the cost of the males and the fact many owners are not willing to sell and ship precious males to a failing colony.
At first Hestor colony tried to buy males when the sponsoring company refused to ship replacements. However, the task of convincing the sellers their males would be safe, coupled with the ever-rising fuel costs, turned the entire process into a nightmare. Finally, out of desperation and after another failed sale, they kidnapped the male and ran for home. After the fourth such kidnapping, the colony had decided 'why settle on just four?' and after joining up with a few other colonies, it became a war of survival. The more males, the higher the chance a colony would prosper.
“Four hours ago a Hester raiding party struck on Cyres Three, kidnapping two males and sadly, killing the owners. This horrible events happened in the city of Sacameno and in the town of Yeaka.”
Mark walked closer to the holodisplay, as he couldn't believe how close the kidnappings sites were to him. He touched the small icons of the two males who had been kidnapped and they expanded. One was a young man of twenty-three, but the other was a boy of only ten. He had been taken from the town of Yeaka, only twenty miles distant.
Then Mark noticed that his yard suddenly darkened. Peeking out of the slider, he saw a large transport shuttle, just above the house. Without thinking, Mark stepped into the yard and watched. Then someone hung out of the transport, and pointed right at him.
Mark couldn't hear what the woman was yelling, but he turned back into his room. He touched the console by the slider, and locked up his room securely. Then he waited to see what was going on while Tina and Penny seemed to get agitated.
Di was the first to notice as the large shuttle touched down beside the house. She gave Tessa a worried look.
Tessa looked over at Macy and her mom, “I think you two should join the other girls in the living room while I go see what is going on.”
Sasha answered the door and greeted the officer there while Tessa entered the room for the dining room, “Captain Holifield? What brings you here?”
“Tessa, have you heard the evening news?” Captain Holifield asked as she stepped into the house with two other heavily armed officers behind her.
“I've been busy with a minor matter. What happened?” Tessa asked.
Captain Holifield noticed all the girls, in the room but no male.
“There's been a snatching, two males taken by force.”
Captain Holifield didn't have to say who did it. Just the fact that it had happened, meant only one group.
“We need to check on the male who is registered here and I will be leaving these officers here for tonight.
Three days later, the officers had cleared out, and everyone was relieved no other males had been kidnapped. Di had finished her evening get together, when the front door burst open, and four large heavily armed women rushed in and started threatening her and her friends.
“What the hell do you want!” Di screamed.
The leader of the group didn't say a word when she pointed her blaster at one of Di's friends and blew her head off, “I know there a boy here, give him up and no one else dies!”
All of Di's friends gave the intruders a nasty look.
“You don't have to do this, just leave and no one will get hurt,” Di said as she got up from her seat.
“Are you stupid, lady? I said give the boy up and no one else will get hurt!”
“I heard you, but you don't know what your are facing here,” Di said as her girlfriends snickered.
“I know who you are Diana Bradly, Medically discharged from the navy, mother of seven and widowed. Now if you don’t want to orphan your daughters you better give up that boy you have!”
Di looked at her friends and gave them a sly smile, “Follow me, then.”
Di lead them down the hall to Mark's door and entered a pass code. The heavy door slid silently open, and one of the ladies grabbed Di and forced her into the room, while the others followed closely.
Inside, the room was blacker than black with a single beam of light in the center of the room.
“They enter my den,” floated a detached voice through the room. No one could tell from whence it came.
“We have the old lady, give up the boy.” the leader demanded.
A set of yellow eyes appeared just past the beam of light.
“They have nothing,” said the detached voice.
“Can we eat them?” questioned another.
“They look juicy,” said said a third, as more yellow eyes appeared in the room.
“Give us the boy or the old lady gets it!”
A thump sounded, and a moment later a head rolled up to the leader's feet. Dead eyes stared up at the leader. Renna looked over to where her friend had been holding the old lady, and found both she and the old lady were gone, vanished into the darkness.
“You have nothing,” the detached voice repeated.
Staci fired her blaster at a set of yellow eyes, and as Renna watched a set of claws flashed and Staci's head came clean off.
“Feed more, feed us more! They are fat and juicy; feed us more,” the voices chanted.
Renna moved back and into her last friend Dora.
“What's going on here?” Renna said, her voice now quavering in fear.
Then a bunnygirl stepped into the light, “You have stepped into a wolf pack's den and have threatened to take their pup!”
The yellow eyes moved and then a bloody muzzle peeked into the light.
“Please! Let us feed! We are hungry!” whispered a hoarse, desperate voice.
The bunnygirl moved, and vanished into the darkness.
“If you want to live… RUN! NOW!”
Then the room filled with howlings and growls.
Renna bolted, running and screaming, leaving her two dead friends on the floor. Close behind her, Dora followed, running hard. They still couldn't figure out what was happening, only that someone had said to run. They left everyone behind, only to run into the local police, outside the house.
The room lights came on, and Mark started laughing his ass off, as two ladies stood there like puppets.
“See, mistress, I told you they never be able to tell the difference.”
Di looked at the two 'dead' ladies, who stood frozen in place as the two holographic 'bodies' on the floor, faded from sight. Mark stepped out from behind his holoconsole.
As he walked over to the ladies, Mark smiled and whistled six bars of music. Both ladies' eyes widened as they were once more able to speak.